Somnolence
by Sykira
Summary: Doctor/Donna romance. Set in the time between defeating the enemy in JE and returning to the parallel universe. Contains spoilers up to the end of S4. These 4 chapters are the original story, but more follow up stories in this universe are on the way.
1. Chapter 1

_Pairing/Characters: 10/Donna, Handy, Jack, Rose, Martha._

_Rating: PG-13 (later parts M)_

_Summary: Set in the time between defeating the enemy in JE and returning to the parallel universe. Contains spoilers up to the end of season 4 only._

_Author Notes: Happy Birthday Stef! This one is for you, hope you got some sleep :D_

_With thanks and sheep to lj user="nanojenn" for looking over an earlier version and encouraging me to keep going, and to lj user="time_converges" for the beta. Includes prompt word brandom/b from lj user = "dd_plotbunnies", and weekly challenge prompt words secret and black from lj user = "doctor_donna"._

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It was the third day of their "summer holiday" as Jack had called it. Taking a holiday had been Jack's idea. When you save not just a world, or a solar system, but reality itself, you deserve a little R & R, he had said. The others had agreed, once they realized they could take the days out of time, so still return to put their world (and in some cases, their parallel world) back to rights after the Daleks' latest escapade.

Jack and the Human Doctor sat on either side of Donna at dinner. They were talking about transdimensional travel. Picking her brain, Jack had called it, her new Time Lord brain. Flirting was more like it, the Doctor huffed, and not just Jack either. He watched them from the other side of the table, or rather, he tried to watch them but Rose kept talking and it felt rude to look away too often.

He found his eyes drifting again. Despite all their best efforts to engage her in their banter, Donna was barely paying any heed to the men competing for her attention. Instead she was looking straight ahead, the freckles on her face standing out in sharp relief against her pale skin. He shouldn't be able to see her freckles from here, he mused, was she _too_ pale?

Then Rose tugged on his arm and the Doctor forced his eyes back to the blonde at his side, smiling weakly.

The next time he stole a glance at the redhead her fingertips were gripping the side of the table, her knuckles white, and he frowned. Were the combined efforts of Jack and the other Doctor causing her distress? Or was it something else? Or was he imagining it, too quick to worry about the metacrisis, its sinister denouement looming?

His mind spun off again in a thousand directions at once, wondering and worrying if the solution he and the other Doctor had come up with together would work. And would the interim solution be enough to stave off the effects of a Time Lord consciousness in her head before then? He desperately hoped he could avoid having to wipe Donna's mind. Before he and the other Doctor had spoken about it he had been able to convince himself he was doing the right thing but the other man had left him in no doubt about the fact that taking her memories would not be something Donna would countenance, he had even thrown the phrase "mind-rape" around.

The Doctor had balked at that, loathe to think of it in such terms of violation. But arguing with the human Doctor left no room for ambiguity, it was not unlike arguing with Donna herself. Nonetheless, he made no secret of the fact that he would be capable of whatever it took to save Donna, no matter how much she resisted him.

He winced as he felt the younger girl's lips tickle his ear. He had never been comfortable with how forward Rose could be physically, but he hadn't the heart to put the brakes on when she had come so far to find him. Nor did he think he would even have wanted to put the brakes on, but now that she was here the differences between her and his current companion were startling. Somehow (and he allowed himself a tiny wry grin as he imagined how Donna would react if she could hear his thoughts) Donna's few years that she had on Rose seemed to make a huge difference. He and Donna were so alike compared to the immaturity of the girl now draped all over him.

He cleared his throat and squirmed a little, feeling disloyal to call Rose immature, and feeling so unaccountably old all of a sudden. Then he caught the eyes of his counterpart and saw the flash of anger there as he watched Rose. There was a Doctor still in love with this young girl, a younger Doctor, _her_ Doctor; he himself was merely an interloper. He stood up slowly, gently extricating himself from Rose's embrace. He could feel her fuming as he muttered something about checking on something or other back in the console room. He saw the other Doctor rise to his feet and he hoped the presence of his duplicate would distract her for a while, allowing him to take care of more pressing matters.

"Donna?"

She didn't seem to hear him so he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Jack cleared his throat. "You can't have her Doctor, we are figuring out what to do about Rose and Mickey's other world, interdimensional stability is all random nonsense without Donna to interpret it." He leered at her a little, and then seemed surprised when it failed to elicit a response.

The Doctor met his eyes and Jack finally had the grace to back up a little. The Time Lord wasted no time inserting himself between them, straddling the bench beside his companion with his back to the Captain.

Finally Donna raised her eyes to him and he was taken aback by the pain and confusion he saw there. His hearts jumped in fear, the metacrisis was already taking its toll. Throughout all the frivolities of the guests onboard the TARDIS she'd been holding it together but now in this moment of vulnerability he could see how she was losing herself. Then she blinked and straightened her shoulders, looking away from him, down at his hand still tenderly rubbing his shoulder, at the concerned face of Jack over the Doctor's shoulder, looking anywhere but directly into his eyes.

"Donna, I need you to come with me now."

"I…" she started to protest and Jack cut in, sounding worried now. "Donna? What's going on? Doctor, is she alright?"

"I'm fine," she protested and waved him off with a trembling hand. The Doctor captured her hand in his and pulled her to her feet.

"It's the metacrisis," he hissed over his shoulder at Jack. "It's overwhelming her, I need to help her bleed off some of the energy before she burns up."

He spared a glance at Rose, and sighed in relief to see her deep in conversation with the other Doctor.

"Do you need some help with her?" Jack asked.

"I'm right here, you know," Donna piped up, a little indignantly. "Quit talking about me like I'm some space cadet, I'm fine, I'm just tired."

Jack grinned. "Then shall we resume saving alternate universes in the morning?"

"It's a date." She smiled back and Jack grabbed for her free hand, kissing it right under the Doctor's nose. He might have growled, he couldn't say for sure. Jack and Donna both looked at him, surprised.

"You are coming with me, Donna, I can help you." Without waiting for a response he put his arm around her shoulders just a little possessively, and led her away.

She didn't say anything during their walk to her room, but she didn't shrug off his arm either. Once they were alone he sat her down on the edge of her bed and pulled up a chair to sit in front of her.

"It's getting worse," he stated.

Donna nodded, her eyes on his. "It's nothing I can't handle."

He took her hand in his. "The other Doctor and I have been talking, and I think I might be able to help you, Donna. If you let me inside."

He brushed his hand to her temple to indicate what he was talking about.

She held his gaze for a moment, then asked, "To do what?"

"Just see if I can absorb some of the energy, help to calm things down so you can get some rest. I know you haven't been sleeping, Donna."

She looked away from him. "I… I guess. I don't know."

"How about I just take a look around, okay?"

She pressed her lips together, then nodded quickly. "Alright then."

He slipped inside her mind before she had even finished speaking and she uttered a small cry, her defenses rising up automatically. He paused, as if waiting at a gate.

"Can you feel that, Donna?" He whispered aloud, not wanting to disturb her further by speaking directly in her head just yet.

"You mean, can I feel you?"

"Yes, and so much more. You are resisting me, you couldn't do that before, it is part of the Time Lord repertoire." She didn't say anything, so he continued. "I need you to let me in, just think of it like a gate that you open for me."

He could have simply pushed past her barriers, she may have a Time Lord brain but without training she lacked the finesse to really defend herself against intrusion, even when that intrusion was from her own mind taking over her consciousness. That would explain why she was getting more and more overwhelmed trying to contain the roiling energy inside her.

As he waited the 'gate' diminished, slowly and clumsily, she was trying to let him in. He helped her, squeezing her hands reassuringly and closing his eyes to concentrate. It was nothing like the other times he had entered her mind. Donna herself was still very much there, but now layered inextricably with his own mind, all the knowledge, all the confusing sensory input, and the ferocious energy simmering between every synapse. It was a wonder she was still conscious at all.

He drifted through the layers, wicking away the energy overspill wherever he could. She whimpered occasionally and he moved more gently, the mental equivalent of tiptoeing. The other Doctor and he had hypothesized about how to deal with the metacrisis, but they had both figured they had more time. Now from what he was observing it seemed they had days, not weeks, no matter how well Donna seemed to be holding up on the outside.

The Doctor could feel her start to tremble under his fingertips and he slowly withdrew, opening her eyes to see her body sag. Just in time he moved his hands to catch her as she fell forward, barely conscious now.

"Doctor?" Her voice sounded weak, but as he laid her back on her bed he was pleased to note the color had returned to her cheeks and her body temperature was normalizing too.

"How do you feel?"

"Mmm… a lot better, thank you."

He nodded, brushing strands of hair back from her face with an air of nonchalance he didn't feel. Being this close to her felt so intimate and her trust in him was like a drug. It had been so long since a woman of his own kind had been this close with him, and in so many ways that was what she was now, that and so much more. Being inside her consciousness had shaken him more than he cared to admit, to be so near her very core, it was a connection he had missed more than he could bear thinking about. And now to have it with Donna, his Donna, who he had been in love with for so long now… well, she wasn't the only one overwhelmed tonight.

Sometimes it seemed that his feelings for her must be the worst kept secret ever, surely she must know, with every lingering look, every embrace that lasted too long, every unnecessary touch… but still she remained oblivious, as if she couldn't allow herself to think what it all could mean.

"I think I can sleep now," she murmured, her eyes already half-closed, "you should go back, she'll be waiting."

The Doctor frowned. Donna was right, Rose would be waiting.

"I'm going to stay here," he said.

When her eyebrows rose in response he busied himself pulling the blankets around her.

"Just for a little while, just to make sure you're alright."

She opened her mouth to protest but he shushed her gently.

"Sleep now, Donna. You need rest. Tomorrow I will take you someplace where we can start to fix this, but for now you need sleep."

"Where?"

"Shh, it's a secret. A surprise."

"Sounds nice."

Donna's voice was so thick with tiredness he could barely make out her response. Her eyes closed completely and the Doctor sat by her side until she was deeply asleep.

Hating to do it, but knowing Donna was right that Rose would be waiting, he ducked out of the room to say goodnight to everyone. He stayed around just long enough for propriety's sake, then slipped away from them again, making sure no-one was watching when he turned the corner and headed for Donna's bedroom instead of his own.

Letting himself inside and locking the door just in case, he crossed over to her bed and looked down at her for a moment, she looked peaceful for the first time since the metacrisis had taken effect. Then he curled up beside her, draping one arm over her body, and burying his face in her hair.

He froze when she muttered his name.

It took a moment for his hearts to calm down enough to accept that she was in fact still sleeping. She turned to him slightly and sighed contentedly when he tightened his hold around her. They had only been sleeping apart for a few days but he had missed her so much that he had barely slept. It was an unspoken agreement between them to sleep in separate beds whenever there were others around, and if they couldn't explain it to themselves how or why they ended up sharing a bed when they were so adamantly just friends they certainly wouldn't be able to explain it to anyone else.

But tonight it just hurt too much to be without her, not just because of his fears about the metacrisis, but if the Doctor was honest with himself, he didn't like it when Jack had kissed her hand. She was his, and he couldn't bear to lose her, not to anyone, and certainly not to a metacrisis.

When he was sure she was deeply asleep again he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her cheek, whispering into her ear as he reluctantly drew away.

"Mine."

The next morning the Doctor brought her to a sleepy little planet somewhere far from anywhere and landed them near a sprawling farmhouse in a deserted valley in the height of summer. No life-form more complex than the industrious bees and slow moving cattle roamed the entire continent.

Donna didn't ask what had happened to whoever had built the farm, she didn't even want to know the planet's name. So much information in her head with the Time Lord consciousness, she didn't need to have any more to think about.

They stepped out onto a hillside, golden fields below them, miles of uncultivated wheat-like plants drifting in the sunshine. Around them, rolling hills were dotted with dark green trees and huge red boulders. A gentle breeze kept the heat from being too oppressive. The Doctor and Donna stood for a moment, absorbing the silence and the sunlight. Then he turned to her, raising his eyebrows. She smiled slightly, and answered his unspoken question.

"It's quiet."

Donna hoped the two words were enough to let him know she liked it here. He looked relieved, and some of the tension left his body. This day would be good for her, for both of them. He turned to nod at his duplicate and the other Doctor, clad in brown pinstripes, closed the TARDIS door.

Donna and the Doctor looked at each other as the familiar sound of dematerializing faded into the air and they were finally alone. Wordlessly he extended his hand. She took it and together they walked away from the clearing.

They had been ascending the hill toward a copse of trees for maybe a mile when the Doctor finally spoke. "I need to tell you what will happen."

Donna didn't say anything, but her body tensed and her chin lifted a little. _This is it, _ she thought, steeling herself. _He's going to say he has Rose now, and our time is over._ Why else would he be spending this day with her, she mused, when Rose is back on the TARDIS with the rest of the "children of time" as Caan had dubbed the mish mash of companions, Time Lords, and whatever Jack was, or Donna herself for that matter, now she carried the Doctor's Time Lord consciousness inside her.

She blinked. She was still not used to the stream of thoughts that tumbled through her head at the slightest provocation. Dragging her mind back from a long and complicated answer to who she was mid-metacrisis, or who Jack was and why, she tried to focus on the here and now, like the new Doctor had taught her, and what the- (her mind stuttered again, the older Doctor? The original?) what _her_ Doctor was saying.

It felt as if her mind trembled with the effort, but Donna managed to bring the spiraling thought processes under control. Then it seemed a simpler mental feat to press an internal rewind button to review what he had said so far – walking her through the more predictable fates, Sarah Jane was gone already, worried about her son too much to really enjoy even a timey wimey kind of vacation, and soon they would drop off the Torchwood crew, and now he was explaining his sense of where Martha may end up.

"Lastly, we'll take Jackie, Mickey and Rose back to their alternate dimension. We need…"

Donna stopped listening once he started in on the technical reasons why – maintaining metaphysical constraints of alternate realities – almost before he spoke the words her mind was racing ahead again, her "Time Lord" mind anyway, understanding why it had to be that way. For all the theorizing with Jack and the other Doctor, she couldn't see any other way to hold the interdimensional walls up. Either they couldn't go back, or when they did it would have to be fast, in and out, not enough time for Jackie to gather up her child and Rose's Dad. But her mind had stalled on the part where he'd be leaving Rose behind.

"…and only then can we let her know it will be the other Doctor who will stay with her there."

"Wait— I know you don't want to make Rose choose between her Mum or you, but Doctor…" Donna stopped in her tracks, turning to face him, not attempting to hide her confusion.

"It makes sense Donna, he's really more her Doctor than who I am now. I think my time with Rose these last few days has brought me that clarity – she belongs with him."

"Clarity?"

He rubbed at the back of his neck. "I love Rose, Donna, I will always love all my friends, losing them doesn't change that. But I'm not the man I was when I was with her, and what she wants from me, I cannot do that, I cannot be that for her. But he can."

He gazed directly at her then, and she could see the pain in his eyes, but also surprising peace. He looked as if he was hoping for her understanding, for some sense that Rose will forgive him for this. If Donna can understand, maybe someday Rose will too.

Her eyes held his, and she hoped he could see that there was no condemnation there, only concern for him. She lifted her hand to his face, slowly, not sure what she was doing, just knowing it felt right. He turned into her palm and his eyes closed for a moment before the tears could spill over. His voice had been so calm, so controlled, but now her touch allowed him a measure of release. She had always been so supportive of his feelings toward Rose, unthreatened by his love for his previous companion, and now she was here supporting him through the final loss.

"I'm so sorry, Doctor."

Her voice was so soft and her touch so tender. He sank to his knees and Donna followed him down, pulling him close. Sometimes so strong, now his frame felt so frail as she wrapped her arms around him and cradled his head to her chest.

He didn't cry, just kept his eyes closed and clung to her. They stayed that way for quite some time. Finally when the sun was beginning to sink lower over the tallest hills they stood up and resumed their walk.

"Always onward," she said quietly.

He didn't answer that, he didn't need to. There were no happy-ever-afters for a Time Lord, only what must be done.

They walked in comfortable silence for a while, cresting the hill before the Doctor spoke again.

"So, that leaves us."

Afraid to look at him, of what was coming, Donna's concentrated on her surroundings. The terrain was different on this side of the hill, mostly trees, with more rocky outcroppings. The red clay flaked away under their feet. Seemingly forgetting the conversation he had begun, the Doctor reached out to steady her as they negotiated their way over a collection of boulders. His hands were warm and strong, and his faith in her made her feel like she could climb with ease.

At the end of the rocks he jumped down and turned back, holding his hands out to catch her. She eyed him, dubious now. The Doctor smiled reassuring, a silent communication of confidence. Some of that adventurous twinkle was back in his eye and Donna thought she could jump off a thousand big rocks if it would make him smile like that. She drew back, pretending to be afraid, (and in truth she was a little) hoping he would tease her, that they could have some playfulness to break the somber mood that has been hanging in the air since he talked about Rose.

"Scared?" The Doctor cocked an eyebrow.

"Maybe I just like it up here. Mmm."

Donna sat down on top of the boulder and pulled out her water bottle and lunch bag from her new dimensionally retrofitted pockets and turned her face up to the sunlight.

"Ah, you _are_ scared. I forget how weak humans can be. Plus, it's a much longer fall for a short little Earth girl. Never mind."

Donna studiously ignored him, so the Doctor scrambled back up the rock face and grabbed the water bottle, splashing her a little before gulping down the water greedily.

"Oi! Watch it space boy!"

He grinned at her and handed it back, turning to dig into her lunch bag without missing a beat.

Their playful banter was so familiar and comforting, the last vestiges of the somber mood disappeared. They ate lunch, chatting a little, careful to avoid any topic of significance, enjoying decompressing from the events of the last few days. Sunlight filtered through the leaves in the tall trees. When they started up again Donna jumped off the rock, straight into his arms. He caught her easily, his strength taking her by surprise. Donna was surprised again when he didn't let her go immediately, keeping her body close and looking down into her eyes. When he spoke his voice was a whisper, but thick with emotion.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, forgetting to breathe, wanting to get away, wanting to stay there in his embrace forever. Then he let her go, and she stepped back, thoroughly confused. His intensity could frighten her at the most unpredictable of times, and yet without his arms around her she felt inexplicably empty.

By the time they reached the small clearing he was bounding ahead of her, grinning with childlike glee as he chased tiny lizards.

"I caught one! Donna! Ooh look at this little guy!"

He brought her a palmful of dusty red lizard and she smiled at him indulgently, peering at the tiny creature as the Doctor held him up for her inspection.

The lizard's tongue flicked out once but he was otherwise still as he regarded her.

"I think he likes you, Donna."

"I think he is contemplating peeing on your hand," she responded, smirking as the Doctor grimaced slightly before gingerly releasing the reptile on a nearby rock.

"Is this it, Doctor? This is where you wanted to bring me?"

"Almost, just around this corner, it's the perfect combination of Time Lord technology and nature's beauty, you'll love it!"

They rounded the curve hand in hand then Donna's breath caught in her throat as she regarded the magnificent vista spread out before them. The view of the valley was spectacular, the soft rolling hills beyond stretching out before them as far as she could see. A crystal blue lake was beneath them, the sun's fading rays glittering off the water. Somnolent bees buzzed around, and in the distance birds called back and forth without any urgency.

"It's beautiful!" she breathed, and turned to him. He was smiling, looking only at her. Donna thought she could detect the faintest hint of darkness in his eyes then he tugged on her hand and led her over a small creek to a small alcove of trees. In the midst of them there was a tangle of fabric and rope in the shape of a makeshift hammock.

"Time Lord technology!" he announced with a flourish. "The latest in time traveler luxury!"

She quirked her lips. "Looks awfully like a human hammock to me, Doctor."

"We-ell." He drew out the single syllable and moved his hand to the back of his neck. "It's very comfortable," he finished finally, heading over to the trees to pull the hammock into some sort of seat-like arrangement.

"You take all your companions here?"

He didn't answer her at first, just busied himself with composing the fabric. Then finally he said, "No." He hesitated again, as if unsure he should continue. Donna waited, her eyes on the horizon and the slowly setting sun. Sensing he was avoiding the question she asked instead, "Is it me or has that sun been setting for hours now?"

"Yup. Very observant, Donna. The sun here takes about eight hours to rise, eight hours to set, the day is around forty Earth hours long you see."

"Ah. Well, good thing I like sunsets then," she smiled at him, hoping to shake off his sadness.

"Oh, me too, the gloaming." He appeared satisfied with his work on the hammock (although to Donna's eyes it looked just as chaotic a jumble as when he had begun) and returned to her side.

She squeezed his hand as he reached for her. "I love this time, like when I came home from school and played outside in the twilight, pretending not to hear Mum telling me to come in for tea."

"Hmm, yeah, I did he same, I guess some things are universal." He squeezed her hand back and they looked out over the lake.

After a long pause the Doctor spoke again. "This is the first time I've brought anyone here. I come here sometimes, when I'm alone." He swallowed. "When I've lost someone."

She lifted her eyes to his, regarding him, waiting. He kept his eyes on the water.

"And we're here today because I haven't lost you yet, Donna. But I'm scared that I'm going to, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to stop that from happening."

He turned to her, taking a deep breath. "The other Doctor and I, we've been talking, and we can only find one sure way to handle the metacrisis. I can wipe your memory, but it would have to be everyth-"

Donna cut him off, her stomach sinking. "No. No way. Absolutely not, I know what you mean and no. I'd rather die."

She forcibly dropped his hand and backed away from him, beginning to shake.

He nodded, moving closer and he reaching for her before she could get too far from him. His strong grip halted her faltering steps and he rubbed his hands up and down her arms, trying to calm her down. "I know, Donna. Don't worry. We'll find another way."

Donna closed her eyes. Her breathing was too fast all of a sudden and she lifted her hand to her forehead.

"Donna? Hey, you're shaking…shhhh s'okay, I won't do it, I promise Donna, we're going to find another way to fix this I promise, shhh love, it's alright."

He pulled her into a clumsy hug, continuing to murmur soothingly, over and over, his concern palpable. Eventually her breathing evened out and he lifted her face to his.

"Donna, you're as is white as a sheet. Donna?"

A tremor ran through her body and she tries to suppress it. "I'm okay."

The Doctor led her to sit down with him on a nearby outcropping, his hand still rubbing her back. Donna squeezed her eyes closed, partly trying to pull herself together and partly because it hurt to look at the fear in his eyes. Bees hummed loud in the glade and it was almost hard to distinguish from the buzzing inside her head.

Eventually, she managed to talk, wanting desperately to reassure him. "Sometimes, it's like I get pulled into the Time Lord part of my brain, and away from myself. It wasn't like this at first, but it's getting harder to control. If we are talking about something only a Time Lord could understand – like how you could just wipe my mind and lock away the Time Lord inside – well that part of my head latches on to how such a thing makes sense and it's like my brain starts running at a million miles an hour and I can't stop." She paused, still trying to control her breathing, and risked a glance at him.

The Doctor was listening intently, his eyes searching hers. Somehow she was in his embrace, his body wrapped around hers. She felt like she might just slide right off the rock if he let her go.

"Is this what it is like for you, Doctor? Why you seem so manic sometimes when you get an idea or things click in your head?"

He nodded sympathetically. "I guess I do get carried away. That's what we have to talk about now Donna, how we can fix this, because you know what will happen if we can't?"

She looked down. "Yes."

"There are times when something has happened, and the Time Lord energy has passed into someone somehow, the details don't matter now, they might send your mind into a tailspin again. But to remove it from a human before it kills them – there's something I can do."

He paused and drew a deep breath. When he spoke again there was a darkness underlying his words.

"This place, to me, it's filled with grief. With regret. I've sat here too many days wondering what I could have done differently, examining every decision, every step, looking for that point in time when I could have changed things, even the smallest tweak, to _not_ end up back here, grieving someone else."

He shifted slightly, and tightened his arms around her. "I am going to do whatever it takes to keep you with me."

He looked at her directly then, his eyes were piercing. Donna was only partially successful in suppressing a shiver that ran down her spine at his expression. But from the day they'd met she'd seen what he was capable of, and had been unafraid of standing up to him.

"What do you mean? What are you going to do? More mind mojo?"

"Yes, but I need a deeper link to you than just my hands on your head."

She frowned. "Like what?"

He touched his fingertips to her lips. "Just a kiss, Donna," he whispered.

"_What?"_

"It's a connection that gives me more control to absorb the energy."

"You have to kiss me?" Donna was aware her voice was wavering and pitched too high, but the blood was rushing in her ears and she couldn't entirely process what he was saying.

"Donna, you said _forever_, you and me." He moved so he was facing her while still holding onto her.

"I'm going to travel with that man forever," she murmured.

"Yes."

"Yes," she echoed.

He studied her carefully. Donna tried not to squirm under the intensity of his gaze. The idea of kissing him was anything but a new one, she had wondered about what it would be like for a long time now, and played with the notion of just going for it one of the many times they had been close during the course of their adventures. Ever since their visit to 1920s Earth she had barely been able to think of anything else when he stood too close to her or put his face next to hers when they were talking, or fighting even, or all the times he would put an arm around her and whisper in her hair when they were hiding out.

But the gap between her imagination and the reality he was now presenting her with seemed huge. Would he actually kiss her? Would they manage to pretend indifference afterwards this time? Donna doubted it. Her heartbeat thrummed in her ears again.

"Here?" she asked uncertainly.

The hum of the bees seemed to drone louder for a moment as his hand moved around to her face. He smoothed a lock of hair away from her eyes then gently cupped her cheek. Donna stared at him until the intensity between them overwhelmed her and she looked down.

Silence fell between them and neither one moved.

Donna's eyes were wide as she looked at him again. The Doctor moved his face closer to hers. With one arm still wrapped around her, holding her body securely to his, he lifted his free hand to her temple. He lowered his mouth towards hers, trying not to think about how soft and inviting her lips looked, trying as hard as he could to remind himself that this was just about helping her handle the metacrisis. But before he could kiss her the connection between them elicited by his fingertips on her face established itself like a snap of electricity and he felt immediately how frightened she was; he froze.

He pulled back, mentally kicked himself and dropping his touch from her face. What was he thinking? She was already on edge about the kissing, and as last night had shown him she couldn't help but react defensively when he entered her mind now. His mind fluttered back to the conversation he had with Jack before they came here today.

"_So you going to take her to one of the most romantic places in the universe, to do one of the most romantic things, and you're worried about, what, making her feel uncomfortable when she's gone out if her way right from the start to let you know she doesn't feel that way about you? Yeah, I'd say that's a no-brainer, Doctor."_

"_So what do I do?"_

"_Just do it man. C'mon, you're gonna try kissing a girl like Donna, who keeps on about you being an alien and wanting none of that nonsense, you're gonna freak her out no matter how you try to soft foot it. Just do it, none of this preamble, catch her unawares, pretend it was the heat of the moment or something."_

_The Doctor had frowned. "No, absolutely not. I just need a little time to explain."_

_Jack was shaking his head._

"_You want my advice? Girls from this era, they go down the pub with their mates, they get sozzled, they snog some guy, they think nothing of it. Dutch courage, man. Take her out, get her hammered, she'll be too out of it to slap you silly, and she'll barely remember anything the next day."_

The Doctor had been positively horrified at Jack's suggestions. He had ended the conversation abruptly. But now they were here, miles from anywhere or anyone, and he had been trying to explain, or failing to, the sun was setting, all he had done was scare her, and suddenly he was grasping at straws.

"Um, this doesn't have to be here, Donna. Is there someplace you'd feel more comfortable? We could go get a few drinks maybe…"

His sentence trailed off. He was still staring at her, his mind spinning.

"I thought alcohol doesn't have any effect on you?" she asked, shakily.

"It doesn't. But it might help you, help you to relax."

She shrugged and the Doctor could tell she was trying for just the right level of nonchalance that wouldn't betray how unnerved she actually felt.

"We are still talking about just a kiss, right, Doctor?"

"I won't know if it will work until we try. I didn't come here to ask you if we can do this, I came here to _tell_ you that I am going to do this. I am going to kiss you Donna Noble, I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure this metacrisis doesn't take you from me. This is where I come, always alone, when I have lost someone I love and I'm not coming back here for a very very long time."

She looked at him, her eyes even wider now, and her throat worked nervously. The Doctor watched her eyes, knowing his outburst was unsettling for her when he was trying to be gentle, but knowing also that she had to be aware that he would go to any lengths to save her.

Slowly, she found her voice, fainter now. "Here is fine, I guess." She shrugged again.

"It's too much all at once, isn't it?" he asked softly and she blushed.

"I just… I had no idea that was why you brought me here."

"It isn't. Well, I mean, it isn't the only reason. Mostly I just thought we needed some time alone, the TARDIS is so crowded, it is hard to think sometimes."

She regarded him curiously. "Is it Jack? I know you don't like him making eyes at me, sometimes I only think he does it to get a rise out of you, you know."

"That isn't the only reason he does it, Donna." _Not the only reason at all,_ he thought blackly. "This has nothing to do with him."

Touching the tips of his fingers to her hand the Doctor fought to keep his voice calm, unwilling to admit to himself, much less Donna, how much the Time Agent's attentions to his companion bothered him.

"Want to try out the hammock?" he asked, hopefully.

She smiled suddenly. "Why not?" She stood up and stretched, watching with the same small smile as he struggled to shape the hammock into something they could both sit on. In the end she was outright giggling and he ran his hand through his hair.

"You know the problem here?"

"Time Lord technology giving you trouble, Doctor?" She batted her eyelashes at him and smirked.

Chagrinned, but more than a little bit relieved that they had broken through the tension of the moment, the Doctor flung himself into the middle of the tangle of fabric. The hammock shaped itself around him even as it swung violently from side to side.

"Hammocks aren't for sitting, they are for lying," he finished triumphantly, and patted the space next to him once the motion had calmed down.

Donna raised a dubious eyebrow. "If I get in there that thing is just going to flip us both right out."

"It won't, trust me. It's very comfortable." When she didn't move he pouted a little. "Please?" he said, with just a touch of sadness in his voice.

Donna rolled her eyes.

"Oh okay then, shove up." She gingerly sat on the edge of the ropes and the hammock swung out at a dangerous angle. The Doctor leaned out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her into the middle with him and holding her tightly against him as the hammock swung alarmingly.

Catching her breath and laughing with him Donna grasped his shirt tightly until the swinging settled down into a gentle sway.

"Alright?" he murmured into her hair.

"Mmm hmm, it is surprisingly comfortable," she acknowledged, smiling up at him.

"I told you! Better stay close to me though, just in case the wind picks up or something."

"Mmm, might blow us right over the side." She wrapped an arm around his waist a little shyly as if afraid of that very thing, but she smiled impishly as the gentle breeze swirled around them, belying any notion of being strong enough to even ruffle the Doctor's carefully gelled hair.

They stayed that way for quite some time, watching the luxuriantly slow sunset with Donna ensconced in his arms, resting her head on his chest.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked after a while.

"Just Rose, and her Doctor, wondering if she'll notice she has the wrong one."

"Well, she hasn't so far."

Donna lifted her head to look at him. "How many times have you guys been playing this trick then?"

"Once or twice. I think the other Doctor will need an ace up his sleeve in case Rose feels like they can't work as a couple, he'll be able to point out that they've already been together and she can't tell the difference I suppose."

"Makes sense I guess."

"You don't sound convinced."

Donna fingered the blue of his suit jacket. "How do I know I even have MY Doctor, right now?" she asked, quietly. Her body tensed a little and she drew up her knees.

Aghast at the notion, the Doctor tried to sit up before remembering why that wasn't a good idea and clutching Donna to him as the hammock swayed wildly under them.

"It's me! I AM your Doctor! Of course it's me! Donna! How could you even ask that? Here!"

He grabbed her hand and pushed it firmly against his chest so that she could feel his twin heartbeats. Then he looked down at her and saw her eyes sparkling.

"I know that, you daft Martian, you don't think after all this time I can tell you apart?"

"Oh." He took a hand from holding her to rub his forehead for a moment, covering his embarrassment, before returning his arm to her side.

They were quiet for a moment, Donna laying her head back on his chest.

"You know," he began hesitantly, unsure if this was a wise line of conversation, but well, she had been the one to bring it up. "The other Doctor, he argued he should be the one to kiss you."

She tensed again slightly in his arms. "Really? Why?"

"He felt it could maybe makes things awkward between us, I think."

"Oh."

"Would you… I don't know," he stalled, hoping he wouldn't be kicking himself for this later. "Would you be more comfortable with him?"

"Are you kidding me?"

He sighed in relief. "Well, I just mean, he is more human, I know my being an 'alien' puts you off."

She lifted up to look at him directly and frowned. "No it doesn't, or at least not anymore. I haven't thought of you that way in ages."

"That way?" he echoed, forgetting to breathe.

"As an alien, I mean."

"Ah."

She blew out a breath suddenly, and surprised him by saying, "Right then, let's just get on with this kissing business, or we'll be here all night."

"Are you sure?" he asked when he could find his voice again.

In answer she wriggled her body carefully until their faces were almost level, with only a minimum of disturbance to the hammock's equilibrium. Then she stopped, and bit her lip, looking at him nervously despite her brave demeanor.

The Doctor placed a gentle hand over hers. "I have an idea."

She must have picked up on the tension in his voice because she looked uncertain even as she said, "Okay, then."

"When I kiss you, I'm using it as contact to initiate a connection, into here." He brushed his fingertips against her hair.

"Right, I get that."

"But those are two things for you to be dealing with at once, you are tensing up because opening your mind to me is so much more difficult now."

"I don't mean to fight you…" Her eyebrows drew together.

"I know, I know, Donna, but it is going to be hard to relax now you have so many more tools at your disposal with a Time Lord mind, and they can be difficult to control. It is natural for your mind to want to protect itself."

"Yeah," she said quietly. "Where are you going with this, Doctor?"

"Well, how about the first time, I just kiss you, just a kiss?"

"No mind mojo?"

"None."

"But… wasn't that the point?"

"Yes, it is, but it might be easier to get used to one thing at a time."

She swallowed. "You could just go inside my head and then kiss me after that, so it is one thing at a time."

"We tried that, it makes you too nervous I think, you are just waiting for me to kiss you."

"Yeah," she muttered again and looked away.

The Doctor just waited until she looked back to him with a small shrug.

"Alright then, I'm ready."

The breeze picked up and rustled in the tree branches above them. His eyes held hers for a long moment, trying to ignore how fast and shallow her breathing had become before he moved over her and leaned in a tiny bit and she stopped breathing altogether.

A leaf drifted down and landed on her shoulder and she jumped.

"It's okay, just a leaf, look." He lifted it from her arm. She dropped her head onto his chest for a moment, wrapping her hands around the lapels of his jacket.

"Guess I'm still wired" she said sheepishly, lifting her face to his again. He curled his fingers in her hair, her obvious fear weighing on his hearts. He tried to find words to calm her, to tell her everything would be okay, but instead when he opened his mouth the guilt just tumbled out of him.

"I feel like you could relax with me on this hammock, because you know where you are with me, you know it won't get weird, that we are friends and you can trust me. And now I'm about to violate that." He sniffed morosely and looked at her.

"What? What are you on about?"

He just stared at her helplessly, lost in the all too familiar mire of guilt. The dying rays of sunlight burned red in her beautiful hair as he looked down at her.

"Doctor, hey! Oh no you don't, I know that look, you don't get to beat yourself up over snogging me. You aren't violating anything, it's just a kiss, and it isn't even our first. Is that why this is getting all weird? I shoulda just grabbed you and planted one on you soon as you brought it up."

He blew out a breath in relief, his torturous thoughts blowing away in the breeze as he gazed at her adoringly, somehow she always knew just the right tone to take with him to shake him out of himself.

"Donna," he began, his voice cracking.

"Oh come 'ere you dithery Spaceman!"

Without further ado Donna brought her hands up around the back of his head, scrunching down a little so she was almost under him and even as the hammock jerked off balance in response she ignored the swaying and guided his lips down to hers.

And then she kissed him.

Their lips pressed gently together and he heard a soft moan before realizing it was coming from him, not Donna. He tried to bring himself under control but the feel of the woman under him had been something he had imagined for so long that it was a lost cause for him to pretend this kiss was simply about finding a way to save her life.

Very gently, he encouraged her mouth to open under his and deepened the contact. Now it was Donna's turn to moan into his mouth. She was so soft, so warm, he could stay this way for hours.

When they eventually broke apart she was gasping lightly but also smiling. He stroked a finger across her jawline, noting the shyness in her eyes, but gratified to see no trace of the uncertainty that had followed their first kiss, so many moons ago, in a kitchen with Agatha Christie looking on.

Their eyes held each other for several long moments and it was all the Doctor could do not to kiss her again, and just keep kissing her for hours, so he rolled to the side slightly and pulled her into him, closing his eyes and trying to focus on what he was here to do.

"Okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," she said simply, winding an arm around his body. He held her like that, feeling her breathing and heartbeat calm against his chest.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm?"

"It's going to be dark soon, should we try the other thing now?"

"If you feel ready, Donna?"

She shrugged a little in his arms. "I guess I am. If it's like last time though, I felt all floppy afterwards, I'm not sure I'm going to be up for a hike back down the mountain."

"Don't worry, I thought of that, you won't need to, you can sleep afterwards, and I will take care of getting us home."

"But you told the other Doctor to meet us back at the same spot."

"He'll materialize there, and when we aren't there he'll call." He wiggled an arm free and produced her mobile from his pocket. She looked at it for a moment and the corners of her mouth twitched.

"Oh. And I thought you were just pleased to see me!"

"_Donna!"_ he sputtered, his eyes growing wide and the hammock jerking swiftly under them.

"I'm kidding! You daft git, you know I'm kidding, dimensionally retrofitted pockets remember?" She gestured to her own outfit. "I know that if we could feel half the things in your pockets right now there'd be no room for me on this hammock at all!"

Recovering himself just in time to waggle his eyebrows at that, the Doctor pocketed the phone again.

She was still watching him, a smile playing on her lips. "Holy over-reaction, Batman, did I hit a nerve perhaps?" She grinned at him cheekily.

The Doctor harrumphed a little, trying his best to ignore the flush in his cheeks.

"Right then, mind mojo time," he huffed.

"Where do you want me?" She looked up at him through lowered lashes, hiding her shyness behind coy teasing now.

He moved toward her and brushed soft fingers to her forehead. "This is fine. Can you turn towards me a little more?"

She shifted until they were lying face to face, then before he could overthink things again he closed his eyes and reached out to her through his fingertips. She tensed up at once and he moved his free hand to rub her arm soothingly.

"Breathe, Donna."

She frowned. "This is getting even more difficult."

"I know, you are getting better at controlling your defenses." He unable to keep the awe from his voice; she was learning so fast, and it scared him.

"I don't mean to, I just can't relax, I'm sorry, Doctor." She sounded forlorn.

The Doctor pushed a little deeper and answered her inside her mind this time.

_It's okay, I can still overcome the barriers, don't worry._

She responded with a small uncertain acknowledgement then he felt her consciously try to control her breathing like the other Doctor had shown her, her mind racing, trying to grasp onto something that would distract her.

_Donna._

_What?_

He inched closer until his lips covered hers and he felt the shock of it blanch her mind into submission, just for a moment, but it was enough when combined with the intimate contact for him to have all the access he needed.

He felt her take over the kiss, seeking deeper physical connection, latching onto the much-needed distraction as he wove his way along now familiar pathways in her mind, leeching away excess energy where he could and trying to hold the architecture in his consciousness even as he mapped the twists and turns.

She moaned into his mouth, just as before and yet completely different. She was anxious now, fighting so hard to both relax for him and also stay in control. He wrapped his arms around her as his body moved over hers, trying to give her a sense of peace and safety, and knowing it wasn't working.

His efforts at controlling her spiraling emotions distracted him from sorting out her memories, and imposing a new structure on her mind seemed an impossibly daunting task. He kissed her harder, desperate to sink past the building panic and calm her down.

In contrast, his battle with the roiling Time Lord consciousness in her head was like navigating a blinding golden white line. He would hold onto it, learning it, trying to penetrate it but it felt almost like falling asleep, like drifting off then getting jarred awake, a confusing collision of dreams and living nightmares.

It was too much, he couldn't do it, and Donna couldn't let him. He retreated quickly from the recesses of her mind as he was forced back to reality by her body convulsing under his. He released her mouth and opened his eyes just in time to see her slump into unconsciousness and his body sagged against hers in defeat.

He couldn't do it. And if he couldn't help her, she would die in a matter of days. Gathering her limp body tightly to him the Doctor shuddered in fear and grief. On the horizon the last of the sun's rays finally disappeared from sight and the coldness of the night crept around him as he held his companion in his arms, and the hammock rocked them both to exhausted but restless sleep.

End of Part 1/2


	2. Chapter 2

PART 2/4

bAuthor Notes:/b With thanks and sheep to lj user="nanojenn" and lj user = "louiecat68" for looking over an earlier version and encouraging me to keep going, and to lj user="time_converges" for the fantastic beta, and for helping me over several

Story also incorporates prompt word beclipse/b from lj-user = "dd_plotbunnies" and Tori Amos lyrics, not for the first time :) Bonus ficlet of your choice to anyone who can guess which song!/small

They had been back on board the TARDIS less than one Earth day and Donna had once again been pulled into another in depth discussion about parallel universes and their seemingly unsolvable conundrum of how to bring Jackie's baby and husband back to their current universe. But once again, the Doctor sat silent and brooding, watching the small group of humans chatter excitedly, their energy building; all but Donna. She had started off enthusiastic enough, but all too soon he could see the endless impossibilities of her thoughts eclipsing her usual spark and drawing her away from herself, away from all of them.

The effects of the metacrisis were magnifying with every passing hour it seemed. His attempts to fix it himself had failed, and the only plan they had now had been cobbled together between himself and the other Doctor, in hushed desperate tones over Donna's unconscious form after he had brought her back from the mountainside.

He had carried her into her bedroom, both of them still shivering from their visit to the mountainside, and tucked her carefully into bed, sitting by her side and trying to rub warmth into her hands. He would have simply joined her in the bed to keep her warm but the other Doctor had followed them, wisely shooing away the others and shushing their concerns.

The Time Lord could still feel the chill that had come from so much more than the sun going down. Blinking himself back to the present he looked to his duplicate, flirting casually with Rose, completely absorbed by the young girl. He needed the help of the human Doctor now if he was to contain and channel the building energy burning inside his companion's fragile human mind.

Then the Doctor bristled as he watched Jack. The captain sat at Donna's side, his arm slung casually around the back of her chair, his hand coming up to sometimes touch her shoulder or play with her hair, and his eyes occasionally sliding in the Time Lord's direction.

The Doctor stood up abruptly, his scraping chair causing the others to look at him in surprise, but his eyes were only on Donna.

"You need to rest," he said, his voice soft in contrast to his purposeful strides as he came over to her.

She frowned but before she could respond Mickey chimed in, trying to placate him, and Martha spoke up too. "I thought you said she was fine after last night, what's going on, Doctor?"

"She's too tired, you've been at this for hours," the Doctor stated flatly, not waiting for them to finish talking. He helped Donna to her feet and met his counterpart's eyes across the room seeing the understanding there as the younger Doctor started to rise to his feet.

"But we need her!" Rose protested too. "We need her Time Lord mind."

"Time Lord mind, but human body," he replied calmly, steering Donna away from the group. She wasn't resisting him, a fact that made him both relieved and at the same time, terrified: it was so unlike her to go along with him unquestioningly.

Jack followed them to the doorway, opening his mouth to comment until the human Doctor forestalled him with a look, for which the Time Lord was grateful. He suspected whatever Jack had been about to say it would have been something lascivious playing off the Doctor's reference to Donna's body.

Jack appeared to rethink his words and then spoke in undertones instead. "Is it the metacrisis again? Are you fixing it? Is that where you two disappeared to up that mountain?"

Jack was whispering now, and the Doctor was glad of that at least because it meant that Jack hadn't told anyone else what he had figured out about which Doctor was with Donna on the planet. He looked at him sharply and nodded.

He glanced at the younger Doctor now at Donna's side. He noted with a surge of gratitude as Jack melted away into the background to start up flirtatious banter with Rose, allowing the human Doctor to slip quietly away with Donna and him.

Donna resisted them for a moment. "Doctor, wait, I should…"

"It can wait, Donna, your body is exhausted trying to supply enough energy to fuel the extra brain activity. You need to sleep." His tone brooked no argument. He took both of her trembling hands in his, and added more gently, "I can see how tired you are, and I'm taking you to bed. Now."

She inclined her head and let him lead her out of the room. They disappeared into the hallway, but not quickly enough to miss Jack's teasing remark.

"So that's what it takes to get a Time Lord to take you to bed."

Both Doctors looked at the woman walking unsteadily between them. She blushed at Jack's words, but looked straight ahead, refusing to meet their eyes. The other Doctor curved his fingers around her elbow. "How are you doing?" he asked quietly. Donna glanced up at him.

"Um, where are we going?" She looked uncharacteristically unsure of herself now that they were away from the others and she could let her guard down. She also looked desperately tired all of a sudden, deep circles under her eyes.

The other Doctor's hand on her elbow kept her walking even as her steps faltered. "We're going to help you, Donna. How about we get you to bed, then you can fall asleep afterward? You look pretty beat."

He looked at the Doctor over the top of Donna's head. They both knew she probably wouldn't even be conscious after such an invasive mental procedure.

"Yeah, alright then," she muttered blankly.

She slipped her hand inside the Doctor's and they led her to her room, closing the door behind them, the other Doctor quietly turning the lock so they wouldn't be disturbed. Donna disappeared inside her bathroom for a moment. The two men looked at each other, seeing their own darkness reflected in the other's eyes.

"She'll be alright, Doctor," the younger man said softly, touching his counterpart's arm awkwardly.

"She has to be," the Doctor stated. Then he cleared his throat, trying to shake off the fear gripping his hearts. "That was clever, what you told her, that this would make her tired and we should bring her here so she could sleep after."

The other Doctor nodded. "Yeah, I figured it sounded better than 'we are going to render you unconscious so lets get a nice soft bed for you to fall on.'"

He swallowed and they both jumped slightly when Donna emerged from the bathroom moments later. She had changed into pajamas and brushed out her hair; she looked even more tired now, vulnerable even. He hated seeing her like this, it was so unlike her to be subdued that it felt like the universes were out of sync, universes that wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for her.

His jaw clenched. He'd be damned if he would let her die as her reward for that, or be stripped of her memories, of everything that had lifted her out of herself and freed her from all the worthlessness and pain her old life had instilled in her.

"Ready?" he asked, feeling relief when she nodded immediately and squared her shoulders. He would have hated to have to force himself into her mind.

"Where do you want me? I mean, how do we do this?" She quirked her lips and frowned.

"On the bed is best, Donna, help you relax," the other man suggested lightly.

Donna looked back and forth between the two men, and blew out a breath.

"Right then. Me and two Doctors in my bed." She smiled suddenly. "Let's get on with this before it gets anymore dodgy and you find more in my imagination than you bargained for!"

She smirked at them mischievously and the man in blue snorted, returning her grin. The tension in the air dissipated somewhat, but to the Doctor's ears the fear underneath Donna's brave joking was palpable.

Turning from them he discarded his suit jacket on a chair and climbed onto the bed. The other man was propping himself up on pillows against the headboard. Following his direction Donna settled uncertainly in front of the human Doctor, with her back to him. For all his air of lightheartedness, the man in blue was careful to keep his movements slow as he arranged himself behind her. Donna looked only at the Time Lord as he moved in front of her and his eyes searched hers.

"Ready?" he asked, his voice low.

Donna bit her lip, her bravado fading.

"Yes."

Behind her the younger man rose up on his knees and placed his hands on her shoulders. Donna held very still but her eyes widened and her posture tensed. The Doctor felt fear run through him, what if this didn't work? What if she couldn't let them in?

The younger man spoke quietly. "This will be easier if you can relax, Donna, you're really tense." When she didn't respond he looked over the top of her head to the Time Lord, and the Doctor saw his own feelings of pained helplessness mirrored in identical dark eyes.

The other man's hands gentled on her shoulders before he began slowly working his fingers up the sides of her neck to thread through her hair at the base of her skull. The Doctor watched them anxiously, forgetting to breathe until Donna suddenly cried out and the other Doctor stopped moving.

The Doctor held up a shaking hand, stilling the other man before he could enter her mind again. The younger Doctor moved back, sighing, and running his hands through his spiky hair.

The Time Lord kept his eyes fixed on Donna. He wanted to tell her they would stop if she asked, he wanted to be reassured that she was certain she wanted him so deep inside her. But the situation afforded them neither luxury. Instead he said, without conviction, "If you want me to slow down, you just tell us, okay? Is it too much?"

She nodded slightly. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, sounding embarrassed. "It's just, it feels so strange. I keep wanting to fight against the presence in my mind, I know I shouldn't but I can't help it."

He nodded sympathetically. "Would it be easier if we tried this with you unconscious?" he offered, and was not surprised when she emphatically shook her head no.

"No. I can do this, let's try again." She cast a glance over her shoulder and reached for the younger man, grasping one of his hands and bringing it back to her shoulder. He moved behind her again with soft murmurs of assurance and she sighed nervously as his long fingers wrapped around her head under her hair.

The Doctor watched as her eyes slid closed then settled his fingertips with painstaking gentleness on her temples, immediately feeling a buzz flow through him that was reminiscent of the bees in the mountain glade. Then the other Doctor deepened his connection to her, and through her to him, and for just a moment the Doctor lost himself in the thrall of being joined with others like him. This was his natural state; he could feel his body relaxing despite himself, despite the work ahead of them. He wished he could stay this way forever.

Then Donna began to tremble as the other man's mind pressed onto hers, and without words the Doctor warned him to slow down, to give her time to get used to what was happening. They both backed off and her tremors subsided.

Waiting until her breathing evened out, the Doctor gradually probed along the edges of her consciousness. He had been expecting confusion and noise but he was unprepared for the tumult of chaotic energy that assailed him. He could feel her resist him, and knew there was no point in admonishing her to relax, Donna's defenses were reflexive, protecting her core, and that was why they needed the other Doctor. As if on cue, the other presence in her mind soothed her fears, more with feelings and gentleness than words, dismantling her barriers even as he lulled her to a state of calm, allowing the Doctor to go deeper.

But still the Doctor hesitated, wavering there with them both for a few precious moments, reveling in the peace and the achingly familiar communitas.

Moving deeper finally he wove his way through the fiery chaos, mapping the intersections of her human mind with the golden strands of Time Lord consciousness, winding sinuously throughout her cognitive architecture. Gradually, he came to understand the integration and the conflict, seeing the growing twists of time, understandable only as impossible labyrinths, coiling into endless circles where her brain couldn't reconcile them with the vagaries of linear time. Not content to lie dormant, the Time Lord intelligence snaked around her human understanding, overwhelming her by unrolling myriad possibilities, all the untaken paths creating friction with the one reality she had previous existed within.

The Doctor gasped, he could see it all, could comprehend the new structure that she needed, but he was overwhelmed by the task of instantiating it out for her. He could do it, he felt it instinctively, but not without more access. She was letting him see and feel as she did, but he needed more control, he needed to take over her mind, but he couldn't do that without wrenching it away from Donna herself. He could see her in his mind's eye, standing there trying to hold back the maelstrom, and having it slip away from her a little bit at a time, piece by piece.

He reached out to her, calling her name without words. When she responded he almost fell apart completely; she had spoken to him with his real name. His eyes flew open and he jerked backwards, his hands almost falling from her face but just in time the other Doctor caught him, forcefully holding the three of them together, silently shouting in warning.

Gulping, feeling like he was drowning, the Doctor fought his way back to her, to them, stricken at the damage he could have caused by disengaging so violently when he was so far inside her.

_Donna!_

Her eyes opened and she looked at him. He could see concern there, but she was remarkably composed. The bedroom was startling silent even as the other man's scream of warning reverberated inside his head. She didn't know what she had done, he realized. He had called to her and she had responded with the name her mind now knew him by but it had come to her so naturally, come from the knowledge that flowed through her, that she was not aware she had called him anything but 'Doctor'.

The combination of hearing that name, and hearing it in her voice inside his mind was so intimate it was shocking to him after all this time. He just stared at her for a moment and her eyes, so blue and flecked with gold, held him to her while he struggled to regain mental footing.

For a moment he trembled, unsure if he could manage the composure he needed for the task ahead. Then he felt the other Doctor in his mind again, cool, calm, but not without compassion.

_Just take your time, Doctor, you can do this._

He swallowed. If he was ever in any doubt about his counterpart being a full Time Lord it was gone now. The solid authority emanating from his duplicate stilled him, and he drew strength from the other man's quiet power, coming unreservedly through Donna to him.

_I need… I need to take over from her._

_I know. She knows too._

_It's okay, Doctor. _

Except she didn't say Doctor, she used his name, and it rocked him again, but he kept ahold of himself this time, still fixated on her clear gaze. Her hands had come up to his chest at some point, and the warmth burned over his hearts.

He placed his forehead to Donna's for a moment, and they breathed together. Then he pulled back just enough to look into her eyes before very slowly touching his lips to hers.

The intimacy of the contact made his journey into her mind so much smoother and he slipped deeper with ease this time. Their eyes slid closed and her mouth yielded to his with the slightest of groans. Like an echo he could feel the other Doctor murmuring soft reassurances in the back of her mind.

He could also feel her fear. No longer needing his fingertips at her temples his hands fell away and found hers. They grasped each other tightly as he deepened the kiss, pushing past her mental defenses as the other man held her back.

He was so deep inside her now, and could see everything so clearly, as if a veil had been lifted allowing him to could sift through the grain of golden Time Lord consciousness threaded with her human mind.

The Doctor knew what he had to do, how to repair, restructure, how to numb her time sense at the very least, how to incorporate the knowledge using parts of her mind normally reserved for processing dreams. In this way her Time Lord consciousness could be allowed expression but nothing that would hold representation in any normally accessible fashion. She could still go there, with his help, and afterward it would fade with all the impermanence of the memories of dreams, not enough to hurt her or clash too jarringly with her human understanding of the universe.

The Doctor trembled with excitement, he could fix this. Too late he realized with dawning horror that the trembling was really coming from Donna; he was pulled back to their physical reality when she flinched and tried to pull away from his kiss. As rapidly as possible the Time Lord disengaged, more smoothly this time, sensing the other Doctor stepping up his efforts to keep her calm.

When he released her mouth the other man lowered his hands from her head. Donna blinked a few times and collapsed against the Doctor, burying her face in his chest. Her hands balled up in his shirt, twisting the fabric as she emitted keening whimpers. He leaned over her, his arms around her tightly, helping her hide in his embrace.

Her forehead pressed into the curve of his throat and it was enough for him to re-establish the gentlest of connections. He knew he should be given her a rest but he found himself so lost without her presence inside his head that it almost made him nauseous until he sought her mind again.

After a few moments of him mentally whispering non-words of comfort and love and nonsense her cries subsided and the Doctor closed his eyes and found his voice.

"I need you to let go, Donna."

"If I let go, it will kill me," she half-whispered, half-sobbed into his shirt.

"I know it feels that way, I know how frightening this is." _ I know love, I know._

They clung to each other, physically and psychically, lost together. He couldn't do it, he couldn't force her, and she was helpless to let him, so they just held each other unmoving, desperation washing over them.

Then delicate fingertips brushed his temples and a third voice spoke into the screaming silence in their minds.

_You can do this. I am here. I am the Doctor and you will not die. I will not allow it._

The quiet authority was unmistakable. The Doctor latched onto it, needing it to be true, and at the same time feeling Donna's control slip a little almost like she was mentally sighing in relief.

_Trust me._

Letting go of control to the other man was one of the hardest things the Doctor had ever experienced. He could no longer tell if it was he or Donna yielding to this strong presence inside their minds, only that he knew he had no choice but to let the other man take over. His love for this woman had overwhelmed him and he couldn't even think of how to proceed. All he could do was let his consciousness wrap around hers, holding her tightly as she clung to him with her last reserves of mental energy.

There was a subtle shift that was both physical and mental. Clutching Donna close to his chest and keeping his eyes closed the Doctor felt with only the smallest degree of awareness as he was laid back on the pillows. He disregarded everything that was happening except for the distraught woman in his arms, concentrating on soothing her fears on a very fundamental level.

He felt the other Doctor so clearly now, felt him as he took them both in hand. Donna was having a hard time with the swift and authoritative presence and she whimpered again, fisting her hands in the soft cotton of the Doctor's shirt. He put his arms around her all the more securely, whispering her name, his hands rubbing her lower back in firm circles. Slowly he felt her panic subside as she burrowed inside the enclave his mind provided for her.

And then everything went black.

When he came to himself again the Doctor was in Donna's bed, her unconscious body in his arms and a man identical to himself pulling blankets over them both. He tried to focus his eyes as the other Doctor gently brushed Donna's hair back from her face.

"Doctor… what—?"

The man in blue hushed him with cool fingers on his forehead. The Doctor closed his eyes in relief, the silent mental communication coming much easier than the effort of forming words.

_She's fine, you both are, she held on as long as she could, but when she passed out you were so deeply entwined with her consciousness that you blacked out too._

_But if I was unconscious…_

_It's alright._ The human Doctor's tone was soothing, and very much in charge. It calmed the Time Lord's racing hearts. _I finished the work while you both were out._

Stupefied, the Doctor's mind reeled. _But…how? _he asked, falteringly.

_Human body, but Time Lord mind._

He recognized his own words from just a few hours ago being echoed back to him. Obviously, he had underestimated his duplicate, the younger Doctor didn't even sound like he had broken a sweat healing Donna. The Doctor's exhausted mind stumbled trying to understand how his double could have accomplished everything alone.

_But her defenses…_

_Once you were unconscious with her she relaxed, she sought sanctuary inside you, surrendered enough not to fight me anymore. I didn't have to hold her back, I was able to finish what you had begun._

There was silence between them for a moment, the Doctor opening his eyes again with difficulty to regard the man before him. He was afraid to believe what he said was true.

"Go ahead," the man in blue said quietly, lifting the Time Lord's hand to Donna's flushed cheek.

Not even having the strength to hold his own hand to her face, the Doctor let himself back into his companion's mind with trepidation as the other Doctor supported his wrist. Being with her like this was like balm to his tired and confused thoughts; inside her mind was so peaceful now, and orderly. He sighed deeply with relief.

In her slumber he could feel her Time Lord consciousness still present, still coursing through her dreams, but with nothing of the simmering destructive energy as before. Her mind was back on a linear track, no contradictory temporal loops, still infinite possibilities but no longer all clamoring to be realized at once in her imagination. She had peace for the first time since the metacrisis.

Very gently, the other man spoke into his mind, his tones reverent now that the three of them were joined, not so much words as simply a question.

_Satisfied?_

The Doctor withdrew from Donna's mind with another mental sigh.

_You did it. She's going to be okay._

_Yes._

The Doctor wanted to thank his counterpart but he was overcome with exhaustion so he simply allowed gratitude to flow through him as sleep overtook him again. As he felt himself falling down to the depths of unconsciousness the other man's voice echoed in his mind, reassuring him that it was all right to sleep, that he would watch over them, and the Time Lord felt himself relax in a way he hadn't done in years.

The last thing he remembered was Donna's hair being swept away from her face by the other man's careful touch until his cheek was resting on hers and he felt their connection reestablish itself, flowing through her to him. He joined her in dreams of places she had never seen, places with rolling hills and wide plains of tall red grass, undulating in the breeze.

When they awoke again they came back to themselves in the same moment, Donna stirring underneath him. He didn't know which one had awoken first but the sharing of their minds had been so complete the question seemed irrelevant.

He propped himself up with some difficulty on one elbow, so that the woman in his arms had some space to move. In a similar manner he delicately extricated himself from her mind, unable to let go completely so maintaining gentle contact through his fingertips on her arm.

He blinked. _Her arm?_ He reached out to her, tentatively. It was true, just a touch on her arm and he could reach her mind with his. It was startling, such a strong connection was rare for a touch telepath, except with another of one's own species.

Donna turned to him, bewildered blue eyes trained on his, making his tumbling thoughts crash to a halt.

"I feel different," she whispered hoarsely. He swallowed, holding his breath. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure in blue approach them slowly, holding a glass of water. The Doctor glanced gratefully at the other man then back to Donna to see her follow his gaze and notice the other Doctor too.

Together they helped Donna sit up just enough to sip the water, the Doctor being careful not to break his skin-to-skin connection with Donna as he did so.

"Donna?" It was the human Doctor who spoke now, as his fingers hovered near her temples. She nodded slightly, her eyes locked with his, as he touched his fingers to her head and all three of them closed their eyes.

Scant minutes later the man in blue withdrew his hand and the Doctor felt Donna whimper silently at the loss of him. They were all three now so sensitized to each other it almost hurt to be apart. The man in bed with her curled his fingers reassuringly around her wrist and drew her closer to his body with his other arm around her shoulders. She nestled into him without a word and he looked at the other Doctor questioningly.

"She's fine," he breathed in response.

The Doctor fell back against the pillows in relief, his body still weakened despite the healing sleep. He had felt her wholeness too, but he couldn't trust himself in his current condition to fully assess everything blinded to what was true and what was just his own desperate hopefulness.

"I'll leave you two alone, but I won't go far, call me if you need anything," the Doctor in blue said with a small smile as he made a graceful exit.

Donna turned to the Doctor as the door closed softly. "I didn't even thank him," she murmured.

"It's alright, he knows. And there is plenty of time, don't worry. We have time," his voice faded on the last three words, hardly daring to let himself believe it was true.

"It's gone then?"

"Not gone, Donna, just contained."

"Oh." She sounded relieved, despite herself. "Will it come back, do you think, Doctor?"

"Bits and pieces, nothing we can't handle. When you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, even slightly, you have to tell me, okay Donna?"

She nodded but that wasn't enough to satisfy him.

"Promise me, Donna. Even the smallest twinge."

She took his hands a little awkwardly and met his eyes. "I promise," she whispered.

"I can teach you how to control it better, it will take time, but we might get to a point where you can access some things without risk." He paused and then tightened his hold on her hand although his voice became deceptively light. "You're stuck with me now though, it wouldn't be safe if I let you go back and live on Earth without me."

Donna pressed her lips together.

"What?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound as frantic as he was feeling.

"I don't want to go back to Earth, why would you say that?"

"I just mean, you need to stay with me, from time to time we will need to come together again so I can keep the Time Lord energy contained, it isn't a permanent fix… and I guess I am not sure how you feel about that." The latter part of his sentence came out in a rush.

She smiled at him and squeezed his hand in return. "I think I can handle that, Doctor."

He sniffed and nodded quickly, looking away from her, trying to play down just how hopeful it made him to know she wasn't unhappy with that idea. It was one thing that she always claimed to want to travel with him forever; it was another to tell her she could never leave.

She tugged on his hand and he looked back at her, her eyes were sparkling.

"So does that mean you always have to come with me when I visit Mum?"

"We-ell, I think an afternoon apart might be safe enough," he answered, feeling them relax into their familiar banter like pulling a comforting warm blanket around themselves. "Especially if I am no further away than up the hill with your granddad."

"Hmm, star gazing in the middle of the day? He doesn't do too much of that."

The Doctor made a mental note to only visit Donna's family after sunset from here on out.

"Doctor? Should we get up? Won't the others be wondering where we are?"

"The Doctor can handle them, Donna. You need rest, we both do." He tightened his arm around her, not ready to let her go just yet.

"You've never called him that before," she said softly.

"Oh. I haven't?"

"Nope."

"Ah." He didn't really have anything to say to that, but he knew she was right. He changed the subject instead.

"I will need to let you go if you get up," he pointed out helpfully, trying to sound lighter than he felt at that prospect.

Donna looked confused. "Is that a problem?"

"We are linked." He nodded at their hands. Donna appeared to think about that for a moment and he watched as she closed her eyes. Moments later he felt their connection strengthen as she reached out to him and he responded in kind.

"Oh!" Her eyes flew open and she grew flushed.

"Donna? Are you okay?"

"I… I just, I didn't know, but you are only touching my hand! Could you always do that?"

A note of panic was creeping into her voice and the Doctor was swift to reassure her. "No, it has never been so powerful before, but don't worry, it isn't strong until you reciprocate, I'm not reading your mind or anything, we are just… well, it's the mental equivalent of holding hands, that's all."

Donna gulped, obviously trying to process what he was saying. "So, now every time you touch me…" she disentangled her fingers from his and he reluctantly let her go, bracing himself for the ensuing emptiness until she gasped suddenly and reached for him again in a hurry.

"Oh! Oh, that's horrible!" she blurted out before she could stop herself. She wrapped her arms around him in a hurry and he held her tightly, feeling their connection flooding back to their mutual relief.

She pulled back eventually, keeping her hand inside his. He pressed his lips together and just looked at her, unsure if he should be apologizing.

"It's alright, Donna, it won't always feel that way to be apart. You just weren't prepared to be alone, it can take a bit of getting used to after we've been together like this for hours."

It had been more like an entire night and morning, his internal time sense told him, but Donna's equivalent sense was offline now, and he didn't want to break it to her how long they had been in here lest she try to leave all the sooner.

She was frowning.

"What is it, Donna?"

"I need to pee," she said bluntly, and he tipped his head back and laughed.

"Oi! You aren't coming with me to the bathroom!" She elbowed him as indignantly as she could without letting go of his hand.

"You don't need me to, here, try to let go of me now that you know what to expect, okay?"

She chewed her lip, looking uncertain.

"It will be alright, I promise, just take a deep breath." He watched as she complied, then very slowly removed her hand from his, and shuddered.

"You okay?" He touched her shoulder gently, limiting his hand to the part covered by her nightshirt.

"Yeah. I will be." Keeping the contact with her to through her pyjamas only he helped her stand, both of them unsteady at first as he walked her to the bathroom.

Once Donna disappeared inside the Doctor leaned against the wall, his shoulders sagging. He wanted to weep with relief, with joy at having her back with him, with release from all the terror of the last week. But instead he just dropped his face in his hands and held still, suspended in time until she reappeared again and he managed a smile.

A short while later they emerged from the bedroom together, Donna fully clothed now, and ventured to the kitchen. Within moments the others were crowded around them, their concern both touching and suffocating. The Doctor stayed by her side, trying to field as many questions as possible, and keeping one eye on Jack.

His hearts jumped when Donna reached for his hand, and his eyes met hers as the connection sparked again, a welcome warmth flowing that was shared only between the two of them, and for a few precious seconds drowned out all the chatter until all that existed was the two of them.

"We're going shopping!"

"Wait, what? All of you?" The Doctor's eyes were only on Donna, it had only been a few days since their coming together and they had spent most of that time holed up in her room. He understood it was hard for her to be around people given everything she had been through, and he was all too happy to keep her company as she rested and recovered. He didn't need any more healing sleep, but he didn't feel the need to let her know that.

Being alone with her was such a potent experience now, he had already been missing it just being the two of them in the TARDIS, but now it was even more intense. He would take her to her room at the first sign of her energy flagging, and lock the door behind them. She would curl up on the bed and reach for him, no need for words. His touch was very gentle, they were so sensitized to one another he was careful even sliding his hand over hers.

He hadn't worn his brown suit in days.

But time was passing and she was coming back to herself more and more, and sleeping less, needing him less. She and Martha were giggling in the kitchen earlier and now all four women had appeared in the library, Jack and Mickey flanking them as they regaled the Doctors with their plans for the next planet.

"What are you going shopping for anyway?"

"Formalwear."

He sighed in relief, he had that covered. But then he frowned in confusion. "Wait, why do you need formalwear?"

"For the fabulous royal ball of course!" Rose tapped her foot impatiently. "Are you coming to the shops with us or not?"

"There's a ball? What ball?"

"Any ball. The Doctor found one on Casieldolopis. It has stars for chandeliers!"

It took him a moment to realize that she was talking about his counterpart, the man now in brown, seated beside him in the library pouring over old Gallifreyan texts. Or at least they had been until the others had burst in.

He raised an eyebrow at the identical man.

"Casieldolopis?"

"And palaces made of rubies!"

"Yes, and revolutionaries made of sharp pointy things."

The other Doctor spoke up, "We'll go before the revolution, don't worry, nothing but decadence and opulence."

"And debauchery!" Jack chimed in.

Rose squeezed next to her brown-suited Doctor on the couch and he finished his sentence, looking into her eyes, "nothing but the best for our girls." She smiled widely and hugged him.

"So we need to go shopping! Right now!"

His eyes moved back to Donna. She was smiling tentatively as she came up to him and he rose to his feet.

"Is that okay, Doctor?" She was the only one who always knew which one was him.

"I'll keep an eye on her," Martha interjected and patted his arm reassuringly.

"I suppose, are you sure you feel up to it, Donna?"

She nodded.

"Alright then, I'll come with you."

Martha and Rose stared at him.

"Shopping? Why? You don't even like shopping!"

He hesitated, not wanting to explain to the others that he never intended to be apart from Donna's side again.

It was Mickey who answered them, "He's made of Donna, remember? Course he loves shopping!"

His counterpart shooed them away to get ready and turned to him once they were alone again. "I can go, if you like, as me I mean. I'll keep an eye on her. You look like you'd rather face a planet of voracious Lugbites than go shopping!"

"You sure?"

"I wouldn't mind being myself again for a few hours, no offense. We won't go far, I promise. I'll look after her." The younger man looked and sounded completely confident and the Doctor felt himself giving in.

He inclined his head in uneasy agreement and went to change his suit.

While they were gone and the TARDIS was blessedly silent he settled down under the console with his screwdriver and sighed in relief.

He lasted about five minutes before setting off after them, hanging back in the shadows but smiling as he watched them all laughing in the sunshine at an outdoor clothes bazaar. It was good to see Donna light-hearted and enjoying herself again, even if he did bristle every time Jack ventured near her.

The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pockets and slouched behind a colorful stall, frowning now as Jack held up a green dress against Donna's body. The Time Lord was too far away to hear their words but whatever Jack was saying was delivered with a smirk and Donna pushed him away, giggling the whole time.

The Doctor relaxed a little to see Donna rebuff his attentions. Jack always seemed to be moving in on his companions. It bothered him with Rose and Martha, although with them it felt like it was as much about baiting him as it was about flirting, but with Donna it got to him on a deeper level. It felt so much more real than Jack's attentions to the other women, maybe because they were just girls, and Donna was… well, Donna was his Donna. Jack's crowing over her Time Lord mind had rankled him especially, and made all his protective instincts rise like hackles at the thought that Jack was trying to seduce her in part just to brag about bedding a Time Lord. If Donna was more like his own kind now then Jack had even less right to her, and the Doctor had fierce urges to guard his territory.

He shook himself a little and forced himself to turn away, and to remember that Donna was nobody's 'territory'. She didn't need his help to keep Jack contained, he had to remember that, and trust her. And his instincts were just that: an automatic reflex to protect her, it didn't indicate any actual threat.

The crowd near his friends swelled momentarily as a vendor announced some kind of special deal and shoppers surged forward. He watched gratefully as Jack moved to keep his body between Donna and the enthusiastic crown, preventing her from being jostled.

He breathed out, and once he was thinking more clearly he looked back at them and saw the girlish smile Donna sometimes gave Jack now on her face. She was fine, she was safe, she and Jack were just having fun, and she always kept him at arm's length. Calmer now, he had to admit Donna deserved some attention now and again, she was beautiful and yet had such trouble seeing herself that way.

He made it back to his room onboard the TARDIS mere minutes before the others returned. He had barely closed the door behind him when it burst open and Rose caught him with an enthusiastic embrace, a garment bag draped over her arm and her eyes twinkling.

He smiled at her uncertainly, still unable to shake that feeling of being disloyal to his duplicate at any hint of intimacy between himself and the young girl. "What's this?" he returned her hug then carefully stepped back, gesturing to the bag she was carrying.

"A new tuxedo, I got it for you today, you are going to love it!" She batted her eyes. "It's almost the same but it has kind of a tails thing going on, it's very debonair, you'll rock it, Doctor." She pulled his jacket off.

"But I already have a tuxedo! What are you doing?"

"Not any more," she answered airily.

"You threw it away?"

"You didn't like that one, you called it unlucky." Rose shrugged and started on his shirt.

He brought his hands up to cover hers; stopping her before she could undo any more buttons. "You want me to try on the new tuxedo?"

She smiled impishly. "Mayyybe. Maybe I don't need you to because I know it fits the other Doctor perfectly but I just wanted to see you wear it first, with no one else around." She tossed the garment bag on his bed and slid over to the door, closing it so they were completely alone. Then she sashayed back over to him, winding her arms around his waist.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "I told you, Rose, we can't, at least not here, not with everyone around."

"That doesn't seem to stop the other Doctor."

"_What?"_ For one panicked moment his hearts seemed to stop in his chest. Had she figured out their ruse?

"Oh come on, don't pretend you haven't noticed, you've been watching them too, I've seen you."

He swallowed. "Them?"

"Him and Donna. Oh he was on his best behavior today with everyone around, but most days he can't stay away from her, and she hardly looks like she minds, and the minute Jack so much as breathes in her direction your twin swoops her away. And what do you think they get up to in her bedroom all that time anyway? Doctor? Why are you all red?"

"I…" He was lost for words. She was talking about him, but because he was almost always in the blue suit, she thought she was talking to her Doctor right then, not the one who she had obviously surmised was head over heels for Donna.

"Are you okay? Did you really not know?"

"Rose, there isn't anything to know, she was sick, he was taking care of her, they are friends."

She smirked at him. "Sure they are. Don't you think that's a bit weird, though? Him being partly made of her 'n all? Guess he just wants to get in _touch_ with his human side." She was grinning now.

"Rose!"

"Oh relax, it's no big deal, I'm just saying, if they are getting it on, why can't we?"

His mouth was so dry as he tried to speak. "They aren't getting it on, Rose, trust me."

"Oh."

"You look disappointed."

She shrugged. "Whatever, I just, I've never seen you look like that, the way he does when he's with her, I want them to be happy, that's all."

He knew he should let her drop this. "Do you really think… you said you thought she didn't mind? Has she talked to you about this?"

"Nope, but a girl knows these things, just ask Martha, she'll tell you the same thing."

The Doctor passed a hand over his face in horror, he had thought they were being so discreet but apparently his feelings for Donna were dinner table conversation.

Rose continued on, oblivious. "Donna isn't the kind of girl who would usually let a man be all up in her business like that, if she didn't like him she'd be telling him to buzz off. It's not like she's still sick or anything."

"I suppose not," he mumbled. It was true, Donna was so much stronger now.

"So, Doctor, where does that leave us? You gonna let clone boy have all the fun?"

She entwined her arms further around him and he coughed. "Rose, I– I need time."

She pouted. "I don't get it, Doctor, sometimes it's like you run hot and cold with me."

The Doctor knew exactly why that was and it all the more cemented in his mind that he needed to get out of this room. And get all these people out of his TARDIS. Let this young girl dress _her_ Doctor up in a private tuxedo session, get them into a life where she could have all the things she had ever wanted and he could never give her.

"Well, how much time? Weeks? 'Cause I can't wait that long."

"Not much longer Rose, I'm more sure than ever now that after tonight it's time to get your Mum home, and everyone else too." More than time.

"And then you and I…?"

He nodded even as he thought to himself, _you and HIM._ Then he extricated his body from hers and went to the door, opening it and gently escorting Rose back to the kitchen.

"So when do we go to the party?" he asked, studiously ignoring her pouting. She cheered up again at the mention of the party and he felt glad that she was so excited. After everything she had been through, and the shock that was to come, she deserved some happiness, they all did.

"Tonight! Mum's going to do my hair, Martha's got some curlers here still. And it's not just a party, you know," she nudged him playfully, "it's a proper ball, Doctor! And you have got to dance with me!"

"Rose, you said the other Doctor tried on the tuxedo, did he get one too?"

"Yup, it's identical, the silly man, I wanted him to get a grey one or something so I could tell you apart but he insisted."

"Ah."

"So you'll dance with me?"

"Yes. I daresay a lot."

By this point they had reached the kitchen and with a coy smile Rose tossed a comment to him about checking the tuxedo jacket's pockets before she went running off with Martha, chattering about hair. The Doctor's eyes flicked around the room until they came to rest on the redhead. She was making tea with Mickey and Martha, but she paused for a moment to meet his eyes, smiling reassuringly.

He nodded at her with feigned casualness then went to put on the tuxedo, more than ready to get out of the brown suit and back into an identity that Rose didn't have such high expectations of. He hated disappointing her, but she was right in her observations of Donna and her Doctor, his heart belonged to someone else.

Fiddling with the rose-shaped cufflinks he had found in the tuxedo's pocket, the Doctor returned to the console room in search of someone to help him put them on properly. He was brought up short by the sight of Donna in a dusky purple dress and he gulped. She hadn't seen him yet, so he took a long moment to drink in the sight of her. The gown was long, all the way to the floor and had a daringly plunging neckline with a shimmery wrap that she had folded across her chest a little self-consciously, and elegant long lace gloves.

Hardly able to tear his eyes away, the Doctor came to stand in the doorway beside his duplicate, drawn to him more these days since the three of them had come together. He stood slightly in front of the other man so that no one could see when he reached behind him and their fingertips brushed each other. It wasn't the same electric sensation that still threatened to overwhelm him when he touched Donna, but it was still very powerful.

Immediately he could feel how charged the other man was from his afternoon with the humans, and he smiled. They both got so much from the life and energy of these people, his friends. He searched for any shadow of worry about Donna but found none and let himself relax. She must have been fine shopping with them all. He had no reason to believe otherwise but he had needed to check, it was the first time she had been away from him since this had all started.

_You can ask her yourself._

Startled he looked into eyes identical to his own to see the other Doctor smiling gently, then looking over his shoulder. Turning, the Time Lord's face lit up in a wide grin to see Donna approaching them. She smiled back and held out a little velvet box.

"I got these for you," she whispered, a little shyly, and he opened the box and immediately understood why she was keeping her voice down. Inside the box were two tiny silver replicas of his TARDIS nestled on a miniature silk pillow. She must have had them custom-made, they were exquisite. Wordlessly he fished in his pocket and handed over the rose-shaped cufflinks to his counterpart, before lifting out one TARDIS and handing it back to Donna.

"Will you help me put them on?"

"You like them?" she asked, biting her lip a little as she took his wrist and turned it upward to access his shirtsleeve.

"I love them," he breathed, licking his own lips and standing very close to her as she attached the cufflinks. Donna smiled to herself, her attentions on her task as her hands trembled very slightly. Her gloves kept them from connecting with their minds, which the Doctor decided was something of a blessing right then, given what he was feeling for his stunningly beautiful companion.

She blew a curl out of her eyes as she inserted the second cufflink and before he could stop himself he reached out and brushed the errant lock away from her face, noting her blush as he did so.

"There, all done." She pulled the jacket sleeves down over the cufflinks and stepped back, surveying the two men. Her lips quirked and her blush didn't fade.

A low whistle sounded behind her and they all looked over to Jack.

"Two tuxedoed Doctors, and one ravishing Time Lady, boy it's going to be one hell of a night, guys!" He sauntered over to them and snaked an arm deceptively casually around Donna's waist, leading her back to the little crowd.

The Doctor was about to object when he felt a light hand on his arm.

_Here._

He turned to his counterpart, taking his cufflinks from him and beginning to attach them without having to be asked.

_Doctor… it's time._

The younger man met his eyes, and the Doctor nodded, knowing instantly what he was referring to.

_Give them this one last night together, then we will take Martha and Jack back first._

It was a good idea, the Doctor knew his duplicate didn't need his approval but he sent wordless agreement anyway. Lilting laughter drew their eyes back to the people in the console room, waiting for Rose and her Mum who were still in the living quarters. Donna and Jack were talking with Mickey and Martha, who seemed to have really hit it off. Mickey was helping the younger girl with her necklace as she and Donna painted each other's toes with nail polish. Even the Doctor had to admit the lad scrubbed up well, and Martha of course was as gorgeous as ever in a tiny strapless gold gown. They were laughing together at Jack who was peeling off his dress shoes and socks and wriggling his toes in the air asking for a pedicure.

The Doctor looked back to the cufflinks, finishing his task then watching as the younger man's eyes rested on Donna. He couldn't help it; he had to be certain they were doing the right thing by the human version of himself.

_Doctor… Are you sure? _He didn't need to specify what he was asking, they both knew how difficult it would be to walk away from the Time Lord connection that had built between them. There was a pause before he received an answer, of sorts.

_At first, I couldn't fathom how it could even be possible that you weren't still in love with Rose._

_And now?_

_And then I got to know Donna._ The younger Doctor's eyes blazed for a moment before he looked back to his progenitor.

_I wouldn't leave her alone with Jack tonight, if I were you. And I wouldn't let him know tonight is the last night._

The Doctor snorted. _I won't, don't worry._

The other man looked like he wanted to say something else, but he didn't.

_What?_

_I think it is high time that I'm going._

The Doctor understood his meaning, and nodded.

Rose bounced up to them suddenly and the Doctor started a little. She was wearing something sparkly and pink, with perfume assailing his senses. She looked young and excited and adorable and he smiled at her.

"I need someone to… wait, I don't even know which one…" Her voice trailed off uncertainly and she twisted her finger in a golden ringlet, regarding them both.

Moving quickly the younger Doctor stood and reached for her. "It's me you want," he murmured, pulling her closer, and the original Doctor understood even better what Rose had meant by hot and cold, these two were all but making out in his console room. He shifted uncomfortably and the couple cast a glance his way.

"How about you come help me get into my dress?" Rose purred, tugging on the other Doctor's hand.

"You are already wearing your dress!"

"Nope, this was just a test dress, I think I like the black one better, 'sides, Mum is still not ready, we've got time, Doctor." She winked at him and he swallowed as she pulled him away.

The Doctor who was left behind wandered over to the console, barely noticing as the couple disappeared, wondering if he should feel more, if it should hurt. Perhaps it would be more difficult if he didn't know that the other Doctor wouldn't actually touch her while he was still pretending to be him, despite how much she flirted and teased. They had both been clear on that respect, it wouldn't be fair to Rose, it would feel too much like taking advantage of her mistaking their identities.

He pretended to fiddle with the controls while he watched the couple he was more concerned with right now. Jack had backed his companion into a corner, while Martha and Mickey had moved to the railings. Jack was leaning against the wall of the TARDIS on his elbow and talking with Donna, his voice low and conspiratorial. The captain's other hand was not in view but the Doctor suspected he just might be touching Donna's hair.

Not that she looked like she minded.

He forced himself to tear his eyes away and looked around the rest of the room. Jackie had shown up and Mickey was admiring her earrings. They had all been travelling together for a while. He hadn't noticed time passing, he had been too preoccupied with Donna, and even now that she seemed completely healed she was all he thought about. He knew that Jackie missed her son, but the others seemed in no hurry to leave. He didn't know quite how he felt about the decision to take the home finally, and his combined relief and reluctance surprised him. Maybe he had just been alone for too long now, alone with one companion.

Irresistibly, his eyes flicked back to her. As he watched, Jack gave Donna a slow, devious smile then leaned in even closer and whispered something in her ear. Then he pulled back slowly, eyebrows raised, eyes trained on her face. The Doctor saw Donna blush furiously and look away, blinking a few times. Jack made one of his trademark slow smirks.

The next thing the Doctor knew he was striding across the room without his brain even registering his decision to move.

"I need Donna."

The pair jumped in surprise as the Doctor bore down on them. He didn't wait for a response but grabbed Donna's gloved hand and led her firmly away from the still smirking Captain Jack.

The Doctor marched her into the library and closed the door behind them. Color was still high in her cheeks when she recovered enough to look at him questioningly.

"Doctor?"

"What did he say to you?"

Donna's eyes widened. "That's what this is about? You're upset that I was talking to Jack?"

"You have to be careful Donna, he wants… you know what he wants."

Donna folded her arms across her chest and stuck her chin out defiantly.

"So?"

"He's not right for you."

"You think he's too young for me."

"What? No. No. It's not about that, and anyway, if anything…" The Doctor scrambled for words. Something inside him had snapped, and all his reasoning from earlier had evaporated, he had only wanted to get her away from the other man, and had no plan for how to proceed. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Donna.

"He's too old for you," he finished feebly.

Donna raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips, looking increasingly confused and impatient. "Well, _you're_ old."

"Um, yes, but it's different. I wouldn't…uh…." The Doctor could feel this conversation was heading in an even worse direction.

She cut him off, her eyes like fire. "_What?_ You wouldn't stoop to do things with a temp from Chiswick like Jack would? Is that what you think of me?" Donna flounced off dramatically.

She got almost to the door, ready to storm out when the Doctor reached for her hand to stop her. She pulled out from his grasp, so he moved fast, slamming the flat of his hand against the library door thus preventing her from opening it. She pulled up short and whirled around to glare at him.

"That is not what I meant, Donna."

"Let me out."

Her voice was angry but her suspiciously bright eyes belied her indignation. Something twisted inside him that his words had hurt her so much. She tried to get past him and he reached for her again.

"Let me go."

Donna struggled but he was holding her hands more firmly now so she couldn't get away. He was both glad and resentful of her gloves so that she couldn't feel what was going through his mind. She inhaled sharply as he drew her closer.

"What I was going to say was, I would never hurt you like he could."

She stopped moving and stared up at him, her chest heaving in the tight-fighting bodice of her dress, the wrap having fallen down from her shoulders. The anger in her eyes softened. After a long tense moment she found her voice again.

"I don't think he wants to hurt me."

"Maybe not, but I almost lost you, Donna, I'm not letting anything or anyone else take you from me."

The possessiveness in his voice surprised even him. She swallowed and it suddenly occurred to the Doctor that he may be making her nervous. In fact, hadn't he backed her into just as trapped a position as Jack had? He released his grip and stepped back, mumbling an apology.

Donna didn't move.

"Donna? Are you okay?"

"Doctor…I didn't know, I mean…do you—"

She drew her lower lip between her teeth, and looked on the verge of saying something more when suddenly the TARDIS lurched violently to the left. The Doctor grabbed for her and swiveled on his heel so that when they slid uncontrollably together into a bookshelf his body took most of the impact.

"What the hell?" The Doctor's face suddenly hardened. "He's flying my TARDIS."

And then he took off, running down the corridor before Donna could even recover her breath.

"It's no big deal, Doctor. He was just giving Jack and me a flying lesson, not the first time we've flown this thing y'know!"

The Doctor glowered at Rose and his double, and she smiled brightly back at him from her position lounging on the jump seat. She casually draped her legs on the console and the Doctor felt his jaw set. He couldn't bring himself to admonish Rose, so he rounded on Jack instead.

Jack grinned at him, unmoved by the Doctor's fury. "What's the matter Doctor? Don't like my hands all over your girls?" He tipped a wink to Donna,

"Just….I'm taking you home. Now."

Jack raised his eyebrows, he was still grinning infuriatingly. "I guess if you can't handle the competition." He swaggered over to where Donna was standing in the doorway, still looking a little out of breath, and took her arm in his. "Whatya say beautiful, fancy a night out in happenin' Cardiff?"

She glanced up at the Doctor. His eyes were trained on them and his jaw was clenched. The entire console room fell silent, even the ship herself seemed to be holding her breath.

Donna patted Jack's hand then withdrew her arm from his. "I think we all need to calm down. Everyone's ready, right?" She glanced around the room, and received murmurs of agreement. "Jack, are we still on the right planet?"

The Time Agent rubbed his jaw sheepishly. "Yeah, just a few feet to the East I think. Still gotta work on my piloting skills." His grin was rakish but Donna ignored him as he reached for her again, walking instead to the Doctor's side.

"We are going to get some fresh air as we walk to a royal ball, no one is going home."

She spoke clearly and firmly, as she just as resolutely took the Doctor's arm in hers and looked up at him. He just gazed at her in awe. She had always had great command before, but now… now she took charge like a Time Lady and she had the entire room in her thrall.

He nodded helplessly and together they walked the ramp to the outside, the others falling into step behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

PART 3/4

Author Notes: With thanks and sheep to lj user="nanojenn" and lj user="louiecat68" for even more patient hand-holding recently, and some snippets in here are actually written by LouieCat68 so never believe her that she isn't a budding writer, it's just a matter of time :)

And many thanks and cocktails with little umbrellas, to the one and only lj user="time_converges" for the fantastic beta.

This chapter includes the prompt word bflashback/b from the weekly drabble challenge at lj user = "Doctor_Donna" and continues the lj user="dd_Plotbunnies" btuxedo challenge/b. I owe a debt of gratitude to lj user="kgriess" for proofing

She was right that the cool night air would be just what they all needed, but the moment Donna stepped out of the TARDIS an icy tremor ran down her back and she pulled her wrap closer around her shoulders. Something wasn't right here, but when she went inside her head automatically locating her time sense it was like trying to wake a sleeping bear, all her other senses warned her away. Her steps faltered and she felt the Doctor tighten his hold on her as they walked.

"Donna?"

She looked up at him and something in her eyes must have alerted him because he stopped walking and pulled her aside, letting the others get ahead.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. Probably nothing. I just feel a bit strange, it's nothing I can put my finger on. Do you feel it?"

He looked sheepish for a moment and when she brought his hand to her bare shoulder all she found in his mind was a firestorm of confusion about her and Jack, before he quickly brought his emotions under control. She made to move away from his hand, thinking she had been wrong to initiate a connection when he was clearly not ready to talk about what was bothering him but his fingers wrapped around her shoulder and his thumb brushed her collarbone gently as he kept the link with her and probed deeper in her mind.

Donna tried to relax as she felt him search for whatever felt wrong but it was gone now and they soon shared a mental shrug. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, moving his touch to the outside of the fabric of her shawl. She shivered again at the loss of their connection, she never could get used to being so close to someone and then so alone afterwards.

"Cold?" he asked quietly, and she shook her head, moving closer to him anyway as they slowly set off to catch up with the others.

"I'm sorry about before," he began awkwardly and she looked at him. He was studying the ground as they walked. "It's just Jack."

When he didn't say anything else she brought her fingers up to entangle with his hand still wrapped around her shoulder. "He knows how to get under your skin, doesn't he?"

"Not for much longer," the Doctor answered, "it's time to say goodbye."

"To all of them?" She felt a touch of trepidation when he nodded, wondering how it would be for him having to leave Rose behind, and for the last time. Part of her was terrified he would change his mind and make a last minute decision to stay with the girl in her parallel existence. She didn't know what she would do if that happened, so she forced the thought out of her mind.

"That isn't what I was trying to apologize for, though," he managed, looking more pained now.

She squeezed his hand. "What is it, then?" she asked gently.

"Before, when I dragged you into the library, and I wouldn't let you go, did I… Donna, did I scare you, or… or hurt you?"

She blinked. _That_ was what was disturbing him? "I'm fine, Doctor. You didn't hurt me."

He turned dark hooded eyes to her and she frowned at the sadness and fear she saw there.

"Really, Doctor, not even a little bit. Don't worry about it, okay?"

He moved his fingertips down to touch her arm above the glove, initiating a sudden link between them, the depth of his emotion rocking into her. She almost stumbled on the cobbled pavement but he held her steady even as his thoughts flooded into hers.

_I can't lose you, Donna, not to him, not to anyone or anything._

She closed her eyes for a moment as they stopped walking.

_I'm here, Doctor. I'm not going anywhere. I will always be here._

She held still, his tension and disbelief pulsing through her until she could push it back with wordless reassurance and surrender. It didn't even occur to her to balk at the idea of giving herself over to him the way it would have if she had said it aloud. It was what he needed to hear, that she was his, and when they were alone in each other's minds it was true.

She could feel the darkness in his spirit receding even as echoing footsteps approached them. The others were too far ahead to be seen now. He seemed unaware that they were no longer alone until she tightened her hold on him and whispered, "Doctor."

They looked up to see the other Doctor, who stopped a few feet away regarding them uncertainly. Donna reached out a hand to him and drew him closer. He skimmed his fingers up her arm until they were skin to skin then he reverently connected with their minds.

It suddenly occurred to Donna, and then by extension to the men in communion with her, that this could be the last time they were all three linked and an unfettered _no _escaped her thoughts before she could stop it. They didn't argue with her, the other man simply stepped closer and embraced her. Her eyes filled with unexpected tears.

They stayed that way for a while then Donna pulled back and they reluctantly released her.

She looked at them and tilted her head. "If you two keep up all this mushy stuff, I'm going to cry and ruin my mascara!"

They smiled, and relaxed before her eyes.

"I just came back to see if everything was okay," the younger man offered.

The Doctor looked at Donna then back at his double. "Donna senses something, I think." He frowned and ruffled his hair. "I can't put my finger on it, does this place feel right to you, Doctor?"

His duplicate looked around. The nondescript town was dark, and reminiscent of London in the middle ages. They could hear the distant shouting of a gathering party, just noises of joy and celebration.

"I'm not sure. Now that you say that, something does seem off, but I can't tell if that is the power of suggestion, you know?"

The Doctor nodded. "Same here. Donna, what does it feel like?"

Donna shrugged. "I can't feel anything now. It was just when I stepped out of the TARDIS, it was like déjà vu, or a flashback of some sort, but to someone else's memories. Yeah, that makes no sense whatsoever! It's probably nothing, shall we head on?"

They linked their arms with her and the threesome walked the rest of the distance in companionable silence.

The ball was every bit as royal and opulent as promised, packed with people, Donna lost herself in the excitement along with Rose and Martha, and even Jackie was aglow with the glittering energy in the huge ballroom. The Doctors drifted away to the sidelines and when she peeked at them occasionally she saw they were deep in animated conversation with their hosts.

The food was exquisite and she tried a little bit of many different indescribable dishes, she and the other girls daring each other as Mickey and Jack kept everyone's glasses filled with some equally delicious sweet wine.

In truth she wasn't quite as drunk as she was letting herself feel, but she went with it because giggling with Rose was an unusual moment of closeness with the younger girl, as they teased the men who were squabbling over who could get Martha to dance with them first. In the end, Martha chose Mickey, and Jack recovered his pride with a low bow to the other women and extended a new invitation for a dance partner.

His eyes met Donna's and she glanced over to the bar (if a marble fountain shaped like a giant alien champagne flute could be called a bar) not at all surprised to see the Doctor watching her intently even as he was still engaged with the locals. She looked back to Jack and quirked her lips apologetically so he gave her an understanding smile and moved on without skipping a beat to woo Jackie and Rose to dance with him, one on each arm.

Donna watched them go a little wistfully, feeling suddenly very confused about Jack, and what the Doctor had told her out on the street. What did he mean, did he really think it was possible he would lose her to another man? Was he like this with his other companions? Would he ever be able to give her what Jack promised with every seductive wink and flirtatious touch?

Her jaw set and she caught herself. It wasn't like that, and it was no good getting lost down that line of thinking, it wasn't like that between them, end of story. All this metacrisis stuff must have simply confused her thinking.

She felt a presence at her side and she turned toward the human Doctor as he smiled at her and offered his hand.

"May I?"

She thought about it for barely a moment. If her Doctor was going to have a problem with his duplicate touching her, well, that ship had sailed, they were all three intimate far beyond touching. She accepted his hand, glad of the gloves, although she suspected from the way he was looking at her he already knew what she was thinking about.

"He told me the Doctor is not much for dancing," she said, by way of a question.

"_This_ Doctor is very much for dancing," he answered her with a grin, and slid an arm around her waist. She froze for a moment, and the grin fell from his face. He pulled back a little and she stopped him with a look, then peeled off one glove, knowing she could never find the words to tell him how she felt, how much she would miss him.

As her hand moved inside his he pulled her close and held her securely, letting her hide inside him as they began to dance, letting their bodies flow automatically with the music as their minds communed to a deeper rhythm.

She came back to herself several lilting melodies later, and tried to express in words how much she would miss him, how much she owed him. He hushed her with a gentle press of his mind against hers, telling her he already knew, and how much he would miss her too. His presence was now so familiar Donna could not imagine how she could go on without him, or worse still, how he would survive with neither herself nor his predecessor to come together with.

_She needs me, Donna, and I need her. Don't worry about me, I will be alright._

She acknowledged this as convincingly as she could manage, and pulled back a little in his arms.

_I don't want to let you go, but she's watching us, you should go to her. _

"I know," he whispered and she licked suddenly dry lips, knowing his use of spoken words was a signal that he was preparing to withdraw from her. With obvious reluctance, hidden behind congenial smiles, he led her back to the small group of people and delivered her into the Doctor's waiting arms.

They stood together for awhile, her Doctor having some more exotic delicacies he wanted everyone to try and the others generally milling around them. Donna was content to just be amidst the group, laughing with Rose and Martha as one local after another tried to persuade Jackie to dance with them until Mickey chased them away, and took Jackie out to the floor himself.

Jack checked in with them all now and again but for his part he was not declining the many invitations to dance so he never stayed around for long. At one point, as a tall and graceful, if androgynous looking, local enticed him back to the dance floor, Jack turned back and looked to Donna.

"You and me next, beautiful, and I'm not taking no for an answer this time!" He winked pointedly at the Doctor who moved to place a cool hand on her back, then Jack spun away, laughing.

Donna turned to the man beside her, emboldened by Jack's open desire for her. "I want to dance," she said simply.

He didn't say anything but a cloud passed over his face.

"Why do I feel like I need to ask you if that's all right with you?"

He shrugged. "You don't."

"Doctor… what you said in the library, he wouldn't hurt me. I'm just going to dance with him, you keep making him into some sort of villain, but he's not, he's alone, and he is a good guy.

"Is it what you want?" he managed, his eyes dark. "Is he what you want?"

She regarded him for a moment, the room seeming to shrink around them until it was just her and him.

"I want to dance with him, nothing more. I think you know that," she said quietly, unnerved by the tension building between them. "What about you? What do you want, Doctor?"

He took a step forward and took her hand in his very gently. "I want… I want you not to get hurt. Ever. By anyone."

She tried not to let the disappointment show in her eyes but she dropped his hand and turned away from him. He moved quickly, coming to stand in front of her before she could take a step in the direction of the dance floor.

"No."

"No?"

Her eyes flashed. "You can't stop me."

"Donna," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, the veins in his neck standing out, his tension palpable. "Why him?"

She shrugged. "Maybe I just want to feel like a girl sometimes, like I'm attractive to somebody."

"If you dance with him, he'll put his hands all over you. Is that what you want?"

She paused for a moment and pursed her lips. "So what if it is? What's wrong with that?"

He frowned and scratched at his head, opening his mouth to say something but she cut him off, irritation building inside her that she was being made to feel guilty or like she had to justify herself.

"You really want to know why him? Jack makes me feel attractive, feel like a girl for once rather than just your buddy or your pal. And I love being your friend, you know that, but every now and again women want to feel like… I dunno, _women._ They want to dance with a hot guy and have him touch her and appreciate her, and that doesn't mean you get to stand here and sulk and feel threatened—"

Donna broke off, feeling more confused than ever and wondering if she was saying too much, and all too aware than her pronouns had changed from first to third person, singular to plural, as more and more she tried to distance herself from what she was saying and feeling. She pressed her lips together and pulled away from him when he reached for her.

"Don't," he spoke urgently and grabbed her hands again, less gently now. "Don't go to him, please," he whispered. "I can't stand here and watch another man touch you."

"Another man? Or just Jack?"

"It's not just Jack."

Donna swallowed, hardly daring to believe what he was saying, or in his usual fashion, not saying. She tugged her hands free from his vice-like grip and he let her go but as she turned away he moved around until he was in front of her again, and then he stepped closer. He ducked his head a little, trying to get her to look up at him.

"I'm going to dance," she said, with a defiant lift of her chin, "with a man. One who fancies me, even a little bit, even if he's only doing it to get your goat, I don't care, you can't stop me."

He took another step forward and held out his hand. She looked up at him in surprise, seeing his jaw set, his eyes hardened but not quite focused on her. She swallowed, she knew that glint in his eyes, a look that could stop armies, could make kings kneel before him, and right now all that attention was focused on her.

He was very close to her now but she drew herself up, refusing to back off and let him get the upper hand. Kings may kneel for him, but Donna Noble was bowing to no one.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, annoyed at the slight tremulous quality in her voice.

"Dance with me," he said through gritted teeth when she didn't move to take his

hand. For just a moment her mind went blank and time seemed to stop, then he moved again and placed his hand on her hip, proprietary, but not forceful.

"Doctor… you don't have to do this."

"I know that. Dance with me." His hand slid around to the small of her back and guided her forward, leading her onto the dance floor before she could formulate any decision to resist him. Of its own volition her hand raised and he grasped it, taking her into his arms. She stifled a gasp, determined not to let him see her qualms, and tried to relax her body. Fortunately the song was slow, and she didn't have to think about what to do with her feet, simply following his lead. But leading her in the dance was the only concession she allowed him; her eyes on his the entire time challenging him, refusing to submit.

She bit her lip when his hands moved to encircle her waist and his expression softened slightly. "Alright?" he asked, his voice tense, but quiet, and she nodded quickly.

"What are we doing?" she asked him, trying not to let her nervousness show.

"Dancing," he replied simply.

"I thought, I mean, I thought you said you weren't much for dancing."

"You said you were going to dance. With a man, who fancied you. Who could make you feel like a girl because he is attracted to you. Who would touch you, and appreciate you." He drew her closer, ignoring her sudden shiver, and dropped his face into her hair, breathing her in for a moment, his lips at her ear. "I'm not going to let anyone else take advantage of that, or of you, Donna. I'm obliging."

Her mouth fell open and she pulled back to gape at him, he had finally thrown her off balance now.

"You?" she squeaked.

In answer he tightened his hold on her, almost lifting her off her feet at they twirled faster. The music surrounded them but it was as if their hearts were leading the tempo. Her senses felt heightened as she could hear every swish of her new dress swirling around the crisp fabric of his new tuxedo.

He leaned in again, his breath caressing the curls that framed her ear as he whispered things to her she couldn't quite believe were coming from his mouth. He was murmuring about how the smell of her skin drove him crazy, how her little sighs ran right through him, how he could still see her hair when he closed his eyes at night, and how he would reach out to touch it when she slept. He told her that seeing her vulnerable to Jack tore at him, and that he wished she could see herself as he saw her so she would never again feel doubt herself, or her beauty.

The music flowed through her body as his words wrapped around her, the momentary touches of his lips to her earlobe sending minute pulses of his emotions through her, confirming the depth and raw honesty of what he was saying and thinking.

And then the song ended and he stepped back, letting her go and bowing low. As he stood tall again she stared at him, at the unhesitating darkness in his eyes as he stared right back, unabashed. Then he seemed to come back to himself, swallowing, and starting to back away from her.

He got no further than a few feet before Donna snapped back to reality and followed him. She caught up to him and wrapped her hand around his arm.

He turned to look at her and she gulped at the intensity in his expression.

"Okay, Spaceman, you, me, dark corner, right now."

Fortunately, whoever had designed this palace had been savvy enough to know that every ballroom needs a generous supply of intimate hiding spots. Donna led him to the first empty alcove she could find.

Once out of view from everyone, the Doctor gazed at her with open passion and desire, taking back the upper hand as he grabbed her and pushed her up against the wall, deep in shadows out of the way of prying eyes. His body pressed against hers and Donna gasped, his eyes were nakedly hungry in the dim light.

He had done such a thorough job of making her feel like a woman Donna fisted her hands in his jacket and pushed back against him, struggling to remind herself that this was her best friend, this was the man who held her sweetly during the long nights she has cried for the lost souls that were sacrificed in their latest adventure, this was the Doctor. She tried to breathe then abandoned her ineffectual attempts to gain control and instead clumsily stripped off one glove, wrapping her fingers around his. He trembled as their minds touched.

"We've been so close, why does Jack anger you so, what are you afraid of?" she asked breathlessly, still using her voice, letting him choose to link with her or keep her only on the periphery of his consciousness.

_Losing you._ His answer was immediate as his eyes locked with hers and his defenses fell away, letting her inside.

_Do you remember, Doctor, how hard it was for me to trust you, to let you inside, to let you take over my mind?_

He nodded, his eyes huge and luminous in the starlight from the chandeliers.

_I need you to trust me now._

There was silence for a moment as he looked at her, then he took a breath and she felt something give inside his mind and his words rushed to her, clear as a bell.

_I love you._

She stared at him. It was everything she had been hoping for, everything they had been skirting around for so long now, and he had done it, he had trusted her, and it was still somehow the most shocking thing she had ever heard.

She felt his mind begin to spiral down, as if from a precipice, panic building in him as he reached out to her with silent pleas, and one shaking hand drawing their bodies together.

_Donna. Donna. Can you…? Do you…? Will you leave me?_

_No. I will never leave. I'm here, Doctor, I… I feel the same, you know that, you must do._

He swallowed and she pulled him tighter to her until their bodies were crushing against each other. She closed her eyes and laid her head on the crispness of his shirt. His hearts raced under her cheek and his emotions began to overwhelm her, although outwardly he was completely still.

Donna pulled back eventually, inside his mind, perhaps sensing they needed to slow down, and stepped back a little. She opened her eyes and looked at him, feeling awkwardly like she was looking at him for the first time.

He stared back at her and she felt the same feeling reflected in his mind, like he was also looking at her for the first time.

"What do we do now, then?" she asked him, unaccustomed to being at such a loss, but having no clue how to proceed. He took a breath and she felt relieved as she sensed him begin to regain some composure, knowing she needed him to be the strong one now. He broke into a grin all of a sudden, and she could feel his vulnerability receding as he squeezed her hand.

"Whatever you want, Ms. Noble." He stepped back again leaving her alone for just a second as he left her mind. For a moment she had to fight just to stay standing, so strong was the urge to follow him and stay connected.

"I believe you liked the dancing?" He held out his hand, her discarded glove in his palm. She shook herself a little and pulled it back on while he watched her, his eyes still hungry, his waiting hand still unsteady despite his broad, confident smile.

"Would you do me the honor?"

She nodded slightly, smiling herself now, grateful he was letting her breathe, in a sense, yet she still tingled with the anticipation of more intimacy to come as she stepped forward into his embrace.

His touch on her body was very gentle, it was as if they were moving in slow motion as he led her out onto the dance floor and twirled her around, never once letting go. They held eye contact for a while until tiredness swept through her and contemplating the change between them became too much for her. She rested her head in the crook of his shoulder instead and just let him hold her as she swayed gently in his arms.

Several songs later there was a break in the music and Martha caught her eye by waving them over to where the rest of the TARDIS inhabitants were gathered at the bar. Donna looked to the Doctor and he was looking back at her, a question in her eyes, letting her know they could stay on the dance floor for longer if she wasn't ready.

"It's okay?" she said, uncertain, not wanting to think too much about what had happened between them, what was happening, or she knew she wouldn't be able to maintain any kind of composure with everyone else.

"It's going to be fine, Donna," he said, his voice soft. He guided her over to the others but stayed by her side.

It wasn't too long before Jack appeared at her elbow, although it took Donna a moment even to register he was there, she was so caught up in chatting with Martha, dodging the other woman's pointed questions and significant looks at the man standing so close to her. Martha had been the most curious of the others, or at least the only one close enough to Donna to keep asking her what was going on with her and the Doctor everyone assumed was the duplicate.

"Would it be too presumptuous of me to ask for a dance with the Time Lady tonight?" Jack's twinkling eyes were on hers but Donna suspected the question was really aimed at the man whose arm wove quickly around her waist.

She didn't have to answer, the Doctor tightened his hand on her body for a moment then released her. He stepped forward between them and took Jack's proffered hand instead, sending the Time Agent's eyebrows up to his hairline.

"How about a dance with a Time Lord, Jack? I think it's time you and I had a little talk."

Donna gulped but Jack merely grinned, his ears going a little pink as the Doctor led him out to the floor without waiting for an answer.

Martha was open mouthed in shock, and she could see the rest of their friends similarly agog.

"What's that about?"

"What's he doing?" Rose showed up suddenly, sounding just as mystified.

Donna looked around as she felt a gentle hand on her back.

"Maybe while those two are otherwise occupied, I could have this dance, Donna?"

Donna was startled, her eyes going immediately to Rose who merely shrugged, her eyes a little unfocused with alcohol, as she pulled at her dress and sat down suddenly on a chair.

"I'm taking Mum back to the TARDIS, her feet are sore, I'll be back though, so save me the last dance, right?" She winked at the other Doctor who was frowning now.

"You aren't walking out there alone, Rose."

"I'll go with them," Mickey piped up. "I'm done in. 'Sides, Jack is dancing with a Doctor, now I done seen everything ain't I?" He grinned, and offered Rose his hand.

Rose smirked. "Yeah, and you know he's gonna be on about it all night long, best get out of here while we can, you coming Martha?"

"No, I promised Jack one more dance, I'll catch you guys up."

"See ya," Rose drawled, leaning on Mickey, looking tired and drunk, but very happy.

"I… I guess, is it okay?" Donna asked, her eyes still moving between the Doctor whose hand was still pressed against her back and Rose's retreating figure.

"They will be fine," the other Doctor assured her and together they melted away from the others. Donna was starting to feel everything was a little surreal, the man now holding her looked so much like her Doctor, but when she looked, there he was, laughing with Jack and leading him in a dance. As she watched them he looked over at her and winked and she blushed, looking hurriedly back to the younger Doctor who was holding her securely, but at a respectful distance.

They danced in silence, exchanging only simple smiles, just enjoying the music. Donna was surprised when he didn't let her go when the song ended, and they could see the other men returning to a stupefied Rose and Martha, and a guffawing Mickey. Jackie merely smirked at them, she was sitting at the table with her feet up, enjoying the show.

"Donna."

She looked back to him and met his eyes, knowing suddenly what he was asking. A new song started up, slower and more intimate and he drew her closer a little awkwardly.

"It's okay, Doctor," she said, and moved her hands around his neck. He stopped short of pressing his body to hers, concentrating instead on what she knew he wanted, his hand traveling up her back until his fingertips connected with bare skin. They swayed together slowly as she felt him inside her mind, and she did what she could to be open to him.

_Things changed_. There was a pause. _He told you how he felt._ There was wonder in the other Doctor's tone, if he could even be said to have a tone when he spoke directly into her mind like this.

She closed her eyes, unexpected fear running down her spine and chasing away her exhaustion. What if the other Doctor thought this was a terrible idea? What if that meant _her_ Doctor would feel the same way when he came to his senses? What if it _was_ a terrible idea?

_Yes,_ she confirmed, unnecessarily. _I… I don't know if he meant to…_

_And you accepted him._ Again it wasn't a question. She pulled back a little to look in his eyes, surprised by the depths of unidentifiable emotions swirling through the younger Doctor's mind.

She reached out to him, wanting his reassurance, his approval, but not knowing how to ask for it.

_I am glad he will not be alone. Very glad. You are good for him, Donna. The two of you are perfect together._

_I won't leave him,_ she offered, uncertain what she should say, and suspecting the other man didn't really need her to say anything at all. The intensity of his feelings was beginning to destabilize her own internal equilibrium, already fragile that night and she stopped dancing, settling instead for just leaning on him and swaying a little, closing her eyes again against sudden dizziness. Maybe she had had a little too much to drink too.

He tightened his arms around her body, supporting her, and seeming to draw strength from her at the same time. She heard his voice in her ear, a little rough.

"I don't know how, Donna."

She waited, and he spoke again, non-verbally this time.

_I need to do this for Rose tomorrow, or she won't go with me, I need to tell her the way he told you, but I don't know how, I don't know if I can._

She could feel his control starting to slip and she reached out to him with her last vestiges of strength and spoke quietly and calmly. Her arms moved tighter around him and she cradled his head now as he leant over her, his hands holding onto her back.

_Just tell her you love her. Nothing more complicated than that, the rest will come in time, that is all she wants from you, all she has ever wanted._

He sighed against her skin and she could feel him letting her words settle in his mind, bringing him back to himself, hope rising within him.

_That's all?_

_You can do this._

She felt his gratitude flow through him even as he pulled away from her, the song having long since ended. He blinked a few times and released her completely, bowing a little and meeting her eyes with a slightly sad smile.

Donna blew out a breath, he would be all right. But she already missed his presence. He was similar to her Doctor and yet so different, so much more raw in some ways, and older in others. She couldn't even fathom what it would mean to let him go, he was one whole third of their community.

She blinked and lifted her hand to her head. She could feel her dance partner's hand move to her arm for a moment, asking her if she was all right. She assured him she was. Before she could look for the Doctor he was back at her side and his duplicate was back in Rose's arms, the young girl making some sort of comment about thinking he was going to dance with Donna all night.

"Donna?" The Doctor looked a little concerned. "You look pale," he noted.

"Can we, uh, get some air or something?" She blushed a little, hoping that didn't sound as clichéd to his ears as it did to hers. In Donna's experience, when dance partners took her outside for some "air" it had never been anything but a euphemism.

"Of course." She was relieved to feel only concern radiate through him as he took her elbow and slid his other arm around her shoulders, his body shielding hers as he weaved them through the crowds of people.

But when they stepped out into the street and he released her Donna allowed herself to imagine for a moment what it would be like if he did try something. They walked a little ways from the ballroom, the stars were out now, twinkling blue through the atmospheric haze. And all around them couples were drifting quietly, in passionate cinches in dark recesses, lost in their own worlds. There was a light drizzling rain in the air and she turned her face up to night sky, breathing it in.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was shuffling his feet a little and looking at her through his bangs, he almost looked shy, or speculative, or somewhere between the two, and Donna realized that the romantic atmosphere of their situation wasn't lost on him after all. She closed her eyes for a moment, turning her face back to the mist and allowing him off the hook for anything he might be contemplating. Even though she didn't think he would make a move without some encouragement from her, she allowed herself to imagine what it would be like if he kissed her, right here in the damp starlit street.

"Are you cold, Donna? I can get you something?"

"No, I just miss this sometimes, when we've been inside a lot. I miss the rain, it clears my head."

She could still feel the ghost of his kiss from their hammock in another world, so gentle and then more desperate as it connected their minds. She wondered what it would like just to embrace without the pressure of all that mind mojo.

She laughed at herself. "Listen to me, would you! I never thought I'd be going on about missing the rain after growing up in England! I'd probably be much less enthusiastic if it was pelting it down, but it's only spitting."

His face lit up. "Oh, now, nothing wrong with a spot of misting. More of a light drizzle really. Do you know English people have as many words for rain as the Ood do for snow? I like a good bit of linguistic anthropology now and then, good to stretch the TARDIS' vocabulary."

Donna couldn't suppress a grin. His nervous babble centered her, making things feel more normal between them. She opened her eyes and held out her hand to him. He took it immediately, stepping closer to her as if that had been the signal he was waiting for, but then a noise from the path behind them diverted their attention.

"I don't mean to intrude," the other Doctor began, looking a little awkward and stopping a few feet away.

"You're not, it's okay." the Doctor smiled warmly at the man in the identical tuxedo and let Donna's hand go with a quick chagrinned glance at her.

"I just wanted to make sure Donna is alright? When we parted before, it was ragged, Rose pulled me away, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt her… I was just… my mind was spinning."

"Mine too," Donna offered, reaching for him. "Don't worry, you didn't hurt me, I'm fine, Doctor."

He closed the distance between them and took her proffered hand. "Are you sure? You're as white as a sheet."

Donna felt her Doctor step closer and place his hand low on her back. "He's right, Donna. Do you still feel strange here?"

"I'm just tired, long day shopping, then all the… dancing, guess I must be out of practice!"

She smiled at them both reassuringly and tilted her head a little. The Doctors' hands moved on her back in slow circles.

"Do you want me to take you back to the TARDIS?" It was her Doctor asking. She looked at him and her eyes widened, something falling into place inside her mind, although it was nothing she could understand or explain.

"Oh, Doctor!" She looked back and forth between them. They both moved closer to her, concern in the eyes of one, less controlled fear in the eyes of the other.

"The TARDIS is safe, I can't explain why, but it feels safe compared to here. It's _not_ safe here, we have to get everyone out of there!" She spun around and wrenched out of their hands, taking off running, stopping abruptly at the entrance to the ballroom. The two Doctors almost ran right into her, they'd been so close on her heels.

"But how? There are so many of them, oh!"

Both men grabbed her before she could fall and the Time Lord's arms held her securely against him. He dropped his face to hers and the other Doctor brought his hands up from behind to cradle her head against the Doctor's chest.

Donna fought to stay conscious as she opened her mind to them, surrendering the violently spinning thoughts and emotions, feeling everything leave her mind to be replaced by quietness. She knew it was the Doctors, taking the manic flutter of panic from her, enfolding her in peacefulness instead and she almost whimpered with relief.

"It's okay, Donna, you're okay, you're safe, I've got you, we've got you."

The younger Doctor pulled back, his face stretched in fear now, disengaging from them. Donna blinked, trying to think straight again, but not moving from the comfort of the Doctor's arms.

"She's right."

The original Doctor nodded in agreement, "I could feel something, but all I could think about was taking care of her."

The other Doctor's panicked tone grew as he answered him. "I know what it is, I know what is coming, she's picking up on a thousand tiny clues, but we took away her ability to put it all together on a conscious level, so her mind was trying to do it anyway. We should have seen it, it's all here, the wavelength of atmospheric interference, the magnetic resonance, the nuances of speech, the silence of the streets, we are not in the year we thought we were."

"Then when are we?"

Just then some kind of explosion showered sparks into the night sky followed by a multitude of distant voices exclaiming and the palace was plunged into darkness.

His voice was grim as he answered them. "It's the revolution."

There was an eerie whistling sound, getting louder by the minute, then an almighty crash shook the foundation of the building and knocked them to the ground. The Doctors held onto her for dear life as they fell together. Donna clung to the Time Lord until the shaking and the hail of debris subsided. Then she lifted her head as the duplicate Doctor scrambled to his feet, screaming for Rose.

"Wha—what?" She started to cough as the smoke from the explosion entered her lungs. The man holding her muttered, "cannonball, I think" then grabbed for the younger Doctor, pulling him back down and tucking Donna's head back into his chest just as the whistling sound filled the air again, much closer this time, and another blast rocked all three of them back out into the street in a tangle of limbs.

This explosion was deafening and for a moment no one moved. Then Donna struggled to sit up, gasping for air. The two men on top of her had borne the worst of the impact while sheltering her body underneath theirs, but now they weren't moving at all.

"Doctor?" There was no answer and she began to panic until she realized she could not her anything at all, not even her own voice crying for them, her ears were ringing so loudly. She gulped and lay back down, realizing she was just worsening her panic by trying and failing to get herself free, and she would be no use to anyone until she did her best to pull herself together.

She turned her head into her Doctor's chest again and felt his heartbeats, fast and strong, and wanted to weep with relief. She breathed through his dress shirt for a moment, trying to get some air that wasn't clogged with soot into her burning lungs. Her hands sought blindly for the other Doctor's chest to find his single heart beat but instead his hands found hers, one grasping her fingers tightly and the other moving to her throat.

At first she thought he was checking her pulse but then as she felt him in her mind she realized he was probably just touching any exposed skin he could find.

_Donna? Oh, Donna, you're okay, oh thank goodness, oh, Donna…_

She was far beyond words so she just met him there, focusing on just one word, or one concept really, until she could communicate to him what she needed.

_The Doctor? He's fine Donna, he is just unconscious, he's coming round, he's not hurt, don't worry._

She dropped her head back, her eyes closed tight against stinging tears that rolled down her cheeks. She had almost given in to the darkness when she felt fabric pushed over her face and she began to struggle weakly.

_Breathe, Donna. The air is so thick you are going to pass out from lack of oxygen, I need you to breathe._

She stopped fighting him and inhaled with effort through what she grasped was a fragment from the other Doctor's shirt, ripped into an impromptu facemask. Slowly her mind began to clear and when she came back to herself she looked up to see two identical pairs of worried eyes staring down at her, illuminated only by the starlight.

One Doctor was tying a swathe of shirt as a tourniquet around her bleeding forearm, which she hadn't even been aware of until now, and even more of the expensive cotton from the other Doctor's shirt was being used by him to apply pressure to another gash on her shoulder.

"'m alright," she mumbled and tried to sit up, they helped her and then she leaned against the Doctor's chest as uncontrollable shaking overwhelmed her. He smoothed his hand on her back and she felt his fear for her safety paramount in his mind, so strong she didn't know where to begin to calm him. The other man shook off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders then they both moved in close to her suddenly and held her as the ground rocked underneath them for a third time.

_The others… _she began, when the shaking had subsided and her own tremors also died down.

_As far as we know, Rose, Jackie and Mickey are back at the TARDIS._

_But Jack and Martha?_

_When I left them to come out here and check on you they said they still wanted to dance. _The other Doctor ran his free hand through his hair, his face gaunt with concern.

_We have to find them._

_We will, Donna, don't worry. But let's get you back to the TARDIS first—_

Donna pushed them away and stood up with effort.

"I'm fine," she declared. The smoke had cleared some now and she could hear her own voice again, albeit as though underwater. "You go – make sure Rose is safe, the

Doctor and I will get Jack and Martha out of there."

They looked at each other for a moment then the Doctor nodded at his counterpart and the younger Doctor bounded off in the direction of the TARDIS.

Donna turned on her heel and started back in the direction of the ballroom, not wanting to waste time arguing with her Doctor. Now that her hearing was coming back she could make out yelling and running feet, and more minor booming noises. The closest blast had only knocked them a few yards away and she was almost back to the entrance, which was mostly rubble now, before he could catch up with her.

"Donna, wait—"

Anything else that the Doctor would have said was drowned out by the screams from inside the ballroom.

Their passage through the remains of the entrance was choppy, mostly blocked by fallen pillars. They had just made it inside when the Doctor grabbed Donna and pulled her out of the way as the rest of the portico collapsed behind them. She could hear his hearts thump in his chest as he crushed her against a wall, protecting her from falling debris.

"You alright?" he hissed.

"I'm fine," she answered him, and he relaxed his grip. She doubled over as a spasm of coughing consumed her. He rubbed her back and stroked her hair back from her face tenderly. Donna could feel him biting back more admonishments for her to go to the safety of the TARDIS. She brought the makeshift air filter back to cover her nose and mouth as she straightened up again. Taking more tentative steps in the direction of the dance floor Donna had to wonder if it was a good thing or a bad thing that the screams had since subsided.

The darkness inside the palace was broken only by an occasional surviving candle flame and the chandeliers. The crystals held their charge from the concentrated starlight that powered this society, although most of the shards now covered the floor instead of hanging from the ceiling.

Her eyes adjusted to the cold blue lights too slowly to see the men that came at them from the shadows.

Donna barked out a scream of alarm as she was torn away from the Doctor and roughly shoved against a table, crying out in surprise and pain.

"_Donna!"_ His voice was frantic, but before she could answer another voice spoke up in the near darkness.

"Thanks for saving us the trouble of blocking the exit, now there is no way out and you and the rest of the cursed bourgeoisie will burn together until your palace is ours!"

His speech stuttered a little in what Donna had come to recognize as the TARDIS' way of signaling only a loose translation was possible, but it didn't matter, his intent was clear. She bit back fear and scanned the rest of the room as best she could from the tabletop where they were holding her down.

There was a terrified gaggle of partygoers clustered together in one corner and she could make out a Martha-shaped silhouette tending to the wounded, with help from a figure she presumed was Jack. At least she hoped that was them, otherwise they could be any one of the glass covered broken bodies strewn across the ballroom floor.

Her eyes moved to the side and locked with the Doctor's. He was similarly restrained and staring at her, his eyes wide. The man who seemed to be in charge grunted something at her captors and they lifted her up to face him. She reeled back as he came close to her but arms holding hers were firm.

His arm stretched out and he fingered her hair and then came closer to sniff it. Donna went absolutely still, steeling herself not to show any emotion despite the fear fluttering in her stomach.

"Stop it! Don't you touch her!"

"Where you from?" The man who appeared to be in charge snarled at her, ignoring the Doctor's protests.

Donna recoiled from his hand and found her voice. "You don't have to do this, the palace is yours, just let these people go."

He laughed savagely then the smile suddenly fell from his face and he back-handed her across her cheekbone. Her head whipped to the side and pain lanced through her skull but she stifled a whimper and turned back to glare at him defiantly.

The Doctor was now was yelling and struggling against men who looked strung out on adrenaline. They obviously didn't know what they were doing, but there were too many of them to count, and they were strong, maybe farmers or manual laborers. One of them jerked the Doctor's arm up behind his back and Donna flinched to see the pain on his face, but he at last fell silent and that seemed to satisfy the men who were holding him.

She gazed back at the man who had struck her, startled by the contempt and anger boiling in his strange eyes.

"You will never know the things I have had to do in my time, and slaughtering a bunch of rich, pampered oppressors won't stop me sleeping straight in their beds this night."

Donna bit back any comeback, afraid for how the Doctor would react if she was hit again. When she didn't answer him the man seemed to tire of her and commanded his men to take her and the Doctor over to the crowd in the corner where they were unceremoniously deposited on the floor.

Before she even knew what was happening she was in the Doctor's arms and he was fussing over her bruised face. She tried to wave him away but was quietly glad to have his gentle touch again. She turned in his embrace to seek out Martha and Jack, relief flooding through her when they came over to them moments later. They were reunited amidst exclamations of joy and surprise, Jack the only one who wasn't tripping over himself to talk.

"Donna! Doctor! Oh, we are glad to see you, but what the—why are you even here? What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you, or at least that was the plan." Donna smiled sheepishly and hugged Martha close.

"Martha, you need to check Donna out, they hit her so hard, and there's soot in her lungs, and—"

"Doctor, cut it out, I'm fine, we need to find a way to get these people out of here."

Against her protestations, Donna submitted to a cursory medical exam by Martha, which calmed the Doctor down enough to focus him on getting them out of there. In response to his questions Jack confirmed all the exits were now blocked, and that the men who had stormed the palace were responsible for most of the dead bodies surrounding them.

"I think we could sneak out down the passage that leads to the kitchen if we had a distraction…" the Doctor began.

"We cannot get everyone out that way, it would take too long," Donna interrupted him with a shake of her head.

"Donna." He looked to the others before taking her hands in his. "We aren't here to get these people out. The revolution on Casieldolopis is a—"

_Oh no, no no no,_ Donna thought, blazing with sudden fury. She yanked her hands away. "So help me, Spaceman, if you even think about starting in with that 'fixed point in time' malarkey, I'll—"

"Donna," Martha spoke calmly, "I need you to hold still, let me put pressure on this cut."

"So what, Doctor? We just come here and avail ourselves of these poor sods' hospitality cause we fancy a ball and then we high tail it out of here at the first sign of trouble?"

"We weren't supposed to be here at this time, Donna, not remotely near it."

"It's my fault." Jack said, blackly. "This is my doing, when I tried to fly the TARDIS. I must have moved us in time, not space. You are all hurt right now because of me."

There was silence for a moment and Martha reached for Jack, taking his hand. He accepted her touch gratefully but he didn't relax until the Doctor's words came to him.

"It's not your fault, Jack. If you can be blamed for getting us off course and into trouble then I would be the biggest hypocrite who ever traveled in time. The TARDIS brought us here, it is no one's fault."

Jack swallowed and stared at him. Donna reached for Jack's arm and squeezed it then pulled him into a hug, giving the Doctor a grateful glance as he awkwardly patted the other man's back.

"So, if the TARDIS brought us here, there has to be a reason, and I'm not going anywhere until we find a way to bring these people with us." Donna let Jack go and sat back, looking down at the remains of the chandeliers around her on the floor. She frowned, something niggling at the back of her mind, a brush of a memory that wasn't a memory.

Jack spoke up, sounding more himself now. "We have to get out of here, Donna, these men are just regrouping, some of them, most of their leaders, aren't here because they took… people, from the ball, they took them upstairs to hurt them, this is real, and we have to get out of here."

Jack put his arm around Martha protectively and Donna gazed at him blankly for a second before turning to the Doctor.

"He's right, Donna."

She bit her lip. "Why can't we just use the sonic to blast a big hole in the wall? This is ground level, we could scatter everyone into the streets."

The Doctor took out his screwdriver. "It isn't strong enough, it doesn't even have a beam that can be used as that kind of weapon."

She bent down and picked up a slice of shattered crystal from the floor, holding it gingerly but not being surprised when its jagged razor edges cut through the tattered remains of her gloves into her palm.

"Donna! Be careful! Those are sharp, what are you doing, you'll hurt yourself!" He crawled over to her and grabbed her wrist but she twisted away from him and snapped back, "Give me the sonic."

"Why?" He looked at her curiously, then down at the blue iridescence in her hand.

"I… I don't know." She looked at him defiantly, refusing to back down. "Give me the sonic," she repeated.

He handed it over looking like he was about to jump out of his skin, but holding back as she took the screwdriver in her other hand and then brought it together with the shard. Then Donna frowned and bit her lip, her head buzzing, but empty of ideas.

Sighing and dropping her shoulders she handed the tool back to him. "Yeah. I really don't know."

He took it absently, his eyes still fixed on her hand, and suddenly his whole body went tense.

"Oh. OH! Donna! You're brilliant! Of course! AH, I'm THICK, why didn't I see it? It's obvious, all we need to do is adjust the resonating raleigh oscillator to magnify the crystal's stellation caeruleus frequency."

He twiddled the settings on the screwdriver as he spoke then snatched up Donna's hand to hold the sonic to the piece of chandelier, all the while still babbling away to them.

"Higher frequency radiation, you know, cerulazure! The blue wavelengths of light, they get scattered by air molecules to a greater degree – or, well, a greater angle really - than the lower frequency red light radiation. It is why the Earth's sky is blue, why your sunsets are red."

"Please tell me you aren't about to irradiate my hand," Donna interrupted him and he flashed her a manic grin.

"Nope. I have lots of plans for your hand, and for the rest of your body, don't worry, you'll be fine, all the radiation…" he paused to tilt her wrist at an angle then pressed a button on the sonic and suddenly blew a large hole in the wall of the ballroom, "will be focused over there!" Still smiling brightly he pocketed the screwdriver and

uncurled her fingers from the crystal.

"You can let go now, Donna. Allons-y!" He jumped up, pulling her with him, and dragging her toward the opening.

The rest of the survivors stared at them, stunned, but only for a minute as Jack and Martha helped them to their feet and they ran haphazardly toward the exit.

Donna never knew how their captors reacted, she ran for her life, the Doctor's hand firmly over hers, crystal shards skittering under their feet. Once free of the shattered glass and out into the cobbled streets she kicked off her heels and ran, bare feet slamming on the cold stone, glimpsing the TARDIS' glowing beacon beckoning in the distance.

The others were waiting for them and Donna stumbled as she tried to slow down, all but falling into the other Doctor's waiting arms. He swept her up and carried her inside while the Time Lord sprinted to the controls and Mickey slammed the door closed behind them, seconds before the TARDIS took off for safer space.

The Doctor holding Donna sank to his knees and hugged her tighter against him. She had long since lost her wrap and what was left of her burned dress was beginning to unravel, while his chest was exposed from when he had ripped up his shirt for ersatz medical supplies, leaving her no barrier between their skin, and therefore, no barrier between their minds.

She might have blushed but she could tell her partly exposed body was the last thing on this man's mind. His thoughts in her head told her how glad he was she was all right, how he could have never forgiven himself if something had happened to her, that he was sorry he had left them. He didn't even release her when the Time Lord came over to them, and knelt beside her, putting his hand gently on the other man's arm.

Martha and Jack were excitedly relating the happenings to a bemused Mickey, they were obviously still on an adrenaline high from the narrow escape. Rose and her mother were nowhere to be seen.

Donna frowned, but before she could formulate the question the other Doctor answered her in her mind.

_It's okay, Donna, she and her Mum were in their rooms already, I just was telling Mickey what happened, and to keep them here, and then I was going to come back for you…_

She felt guilt well up in him again and then her Doctor's voice in their minds, calming him.

They heard stomping footsteps and looked up to see a stormy blonde girl fuming in the doorway, hands on her hips.

"What the hell?"

The younger Doctor's smile died halfway to his lips. He looked down at his chest, and the tattered remains of his dress shirt, the sleeves and bow tie being the only parts of it still intact. The rest of it was now bunched up and blood soaked in Donna's hand. The miniature rose cufflinks glinted at him brightly, accusingly, and he knew Rose had seen them.

"I left you two alone to have one dance, not to rip each other's clothes off."

With that she tossed her hair, spun on her heel and flounced off down the corridor.


	4. Chapter 4

"I think that's my cue," murmured the younger Doctor with an affectionate smile at the now empty doorway. Donna squeezed his hand as he reluctantly released her from his arms, then he nodded at them and disappeared off down the corridor after Rose.

Donna stood unsteadily, the Doctor hovering close by and asking her over and over again if she was all right. She looked down at herself and crossed her arms over her chest self-consciously, missing her wrap all of a sudden. She looked up at the Doctor just as he shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She pulled it close and smiled at him gratefully.

"Seems like I'm doing a good job of getting two Doctors out of their tuxes tonight," she joked, trying to keep the tiredness out of her voice.

He smiled at her in return, lifting his eyebrows cheekily. "The night is young, Donna."

He reached for her hand and she held onto him, still smiling, but his eyes watched her carefully. Mickey and Jack seemed to pick up on the high emotions between them and they started to head out of the room.

"Not so fast, captain. You got pretty well banged up tonight, I'm taking you to the infirmary to check you out, then you next, Donna." Martha called out over her shoulder as she led Jack away.

"If you wanted to get me undressed, Martha, all you had to do was ask you know," Jack said coyly before their voices faded away, leaving Donna and the Doctor alone in the console room.

"Can I ask you something, Doctor?"

"Anything."

"You and Jack, when you were dancing, did you tell him?"

"Yes," he answered immediately, and then his brow furrowed. "Should I not have? Is it too soon?"

"No, it's just… I dunno, I'm surprised, I thought maybe we would keep it secret just because we have been… I mean, not that there was anything to tell before…" She trailed off.

"Yes there was," he said quietly and she looked at him, biting her lip.

"Yeah, I guess there was," she whispered, then closed her eyes, sleepiness coming over her.

"We should get you to bed, Donna."

"Nah, I need a shower, I'm a mess, I feel like Cinderella, only backwards! I was all girlified when you took me to the ball, and now I'm covered in ash and dirt. Some ball, huh?"

She flashed him a smile and he moved his arm around her. "Best I've ever been to," he said seriously and she looked at him.

"Me too. 'Sides, it wouldn't be us if there wasn't a whole lot of running!"

He grinned. "My kind of party, and you," he paused as he brought her hand to his lips, "you are definitely my kind of Cinderella."

Feeling much more herself after her shower, but also strangely disconnected, Donna wandered through the TARDIS, knowing she should just go to bed. She was tired but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. She was unsure how tonight was even going to work between her and the Doctor after what had happened at the ball, and she wasn't ready to be in bed with him just yet, not when she couldn't get the screams from the ballroom to stop echoing inside her head.

She heard voices from the kitchen as the others enjoyed one last meal together before they were to be dropped off. The Doctor has suggested they stay one more night but Jack had rightly pointed out they weren't going to top a ball like that, and everyone else just seemed too exhausted and wrung out. It was time. Donna knew she should join them, and she would, but she needed some time alone first so she headed instead into the empty console room.

She didn't know how much time had passed when the Doctor found her sitting on the jumpseat, looking at the console, lost in her own world. He sat down beside her when she didn't look up, leaving a respectful distance between them.

"You are usually in the library when you can't sleep," he said, by way of a careful question.

Donna shrugged. "It felt too small in there, too close. Even in here I still feel… weird." She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around herself. After a while she spoke again, her voice sounding far away to her own ears.

"It's still the hardest part of this job, those people we didn't help."

He nodded, but didn't say anything. She suspected he was suppressing the urge to ask her if it was too much, this "job" as she had put it, and she would recognize his question for what it really was: him wanting her to reassure him that she would stay with him no matter how hard it got.

"But I'm glad we got some people out," she added, watching him when he nodded.

"I… I wish I could tell you it will get easier, Donna…" He didn't finish the sentence and they just sat, side by side in companionable silence for a while.

"I'm here if you want to talk about it, though, or about anything," he offered eventually and she swallowed.

"I keep thinking about what Jack said, why there was a lull when we arrived, after all that screaming, that they were hurting people, and then he put his arm around Martha and she didn't say anything."

"Oh."

"I didn't allow myself to think about what that could mean at the time, I don't think I could, if I had thought about it I never could have left them there."

The Doctor pressed his lips together then stood up and took her hand. She could feel the quiet control he was exercising over his thoughts as his mind brushed hers and she looked up at him questioningly as he led her over to the door. Her hand clenched in his when he opened the doors into the nothingness of space.

"It's okay, it helps with the closed-in feelings," he murmured tenderly and drew her down to sit beside him in the doorway.

He was right, the vastness of space made it easier to breathe, easier to gain perspective. She cuddled into him and closed her eyes as he held her securely.

The mood was somber when they returned to the TARDIS, having just left Rose and her Doctor behind on one of the bleakest beaches Donna could ever remember. Now that the younger Doctor was gone Donna felt strange, almost weak and she tried to shake it off. The chaotic thoughts that had previously been brought to submission when the two Doctors had healed the metacrisis now swam around her head.

Donna felt suddenly exhausted, but she had seen the Doctor stagger too when the sealing of realities had wrenched his other half away from him, and now she was more worried about the Time Lord than herself. She risked a glance at him, his dark eyes looked haunted and Donna hated to see him in pain.

When things got too much for her she would always hide behind humor, how could she make him laugh, take him out of himself? Without knowing what she was saying she launched into some chipper suggestions for where they could go next. Where was safe? What would distract him from his sadness?

"I thought we could try the planet Felspoon... just 'cos. What a good name, 'Felspoon'. Apparently it's got mountains that sway in the breeze, mountains that move. Can you imagine?"

She twiddled one of the dials on the console casually.

He answered her with that measured control back in his voice that made her want to scream, knowing he was holding back so much emotion.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because it's in your head! And if it's in your head, it's in mine. Or it was, anyway. Somehow mountains swaying in the breeze must have stuck in my memory." She shrugged a little, trying to ignore the note of concern in his voice as he moved away from the wall and started coming towards her.

"And how does that feel?"

The buzzing was back in her head. "Fine. Good. Molto bene!" The last thing she wanted was to weigh him down further with worrying about her, he obviously had enough on his mind. He was still approaching and she took a step away from him, circling the console, ignoring the dizziness that came over her.

"I almost feel like I could fix that chameleon circuit some days!" she added, still trying to distract him, but he didn't take the bait. "Or never mind Felspoon, you know who I'd like to meet? Charlie Chaplin. I've heard he's great, Charlie Chaplin. Shall we do that? Shall we go and see Charlie Chaplin?"

She stopped and braced herself against the console, taking a breath. Her mind cycled through thousands of choices, galaxies of possibilities, and she blinked, still unused to the intrusion of the Time Lord consciousness into her thoughts when she least expected it. But now it was nothing like before, the wealth of knowledge was only shadows unless she chose to pursue them; she felt much more in control.

"Donna?" The Doctor was approaching her, looking concerned. She stepped back from him.

"The last thing you need right now is to start worrying about me again, Doctor," she reasoned. She scrambled for control and faltered, suddenly overcome with the absence of the other Doctor. Her eyes filled with tears and she shook her head a little, forcing her thoughts away from the yawning gulf he had left behind in her mind. She couldn't think about him now or the depth of the loss would drive her insane.

The Doctor reached her and placed his hands on her shoulders so she could no longer escape from him. "Look at me, Donna, do you need help? Is it too much?"

She swallowed and lifted her face to look back at him. His eyes asked her permission as he brought his fingertips gently to her temples. She trembled a little, knowing that if he touched her there it would be more powerful, allowing him greater control than just holding her hand or arm. He murmured reassurances as her eyes slid closed, her tears spilling down her cheeks.

And then a peace descended on her like the soft rain from the night before. All was cool and calm again behind her eyes and she felt jarred only when his fingertips fell away from her face.

Donna blinked. "That's it?"

"You sound surprised, Donna, but your own mind is doing most of the work now, you just need me to absorb some of the excess energy, you probably could have even coped if I wasn't here, not that we'll ever take that risk. We should probably get some rest though, you didn't get much sleep last night, just whatever shut eye we had in the TARDIS doorway."

"Oh."

He smiled gently. "What were you thinking about that sent your mind into a tailspin?"

"Just… I don't know, places we could go, anything to take your mind off what just happened." She looked sheepish.

The Doctor returned his hands to her shoulders. "You mean leaving Rose?"

She nodded.

"Don't worry about me, Donna. I'm sad but I'm not… I mean, I'm alright."

She frowned a little but he was quick to add, "Really alright, I'm fine. And I have you, Donna and the Doctor in the TARDIS, just as it should be!"

He was smiling, genuinely smiling, and Donna dared to believe that he really was all right.

"How about you?" He lifted one hand to cup her cheek,

"What about me?" she said, afraid to move, his touch felt so intimate, she never wanted it to end. He had been so careful with her since things had changed between them and she suspected he was giving her space in case she wasn't ready for physical intimacy, but that meant he was withdrawing compared to how they had been before he admitted his feelings, and she missed his touch.

"Are _you_ alright? We really need to get you some sleep. How's your head?" He smoothed his thumb over her cheekbone.

"Totally fine, thank you. Just… I miss him."

He nodded soberly and she rushed on before her tears could return.

"So… that's all you would need to do to fix me from now on?"

He cocked his head to the side, regarding her thoughtfully. "You sound disappointed, Donna."

Was it her imagination or was he leaning in?

She shrugged lightly and his hand drifted down from her shoulder to curve around her lower back, pulling her further toward him while giving her plenty of opportunity to get away.

"Wh- why would I be disappointed?" she asked, breathless again.

His smile became a little lopsided as he answered her, his eyes twinkling. "Maybe because I'm such a good kisser?"

Donna's heart thumped painfully hard in her chest. The Doctor just smiled, looking very smug all of a sudden.

"I wouldn't even know," she lied, trying to regain some composure, the Doctor looked all too content to have the upper hand and she couldn't have that. "I was too preoccupied with my head not blowing up those other times, wasn't I?"

She took a small step toward him and now there was no distance between them at all. She felt satisfied to see him catch his breath, but he continued anyway, maintaining the same teasing tone.

"Well now, that is a shame. Ms. Noble. I'll have you know Time Lords are known for their amazing kissing skills. It's just not fair for you to have been so preoccupied."

"Mmm, not fair at all," she agreed, her eyes moving to his lips as she tilted her head back slightly, a delicious shiver running down her spine as his fingers weaved themselves into her hair.

"Are you preoccupied now?" he breathed, gulping as her hands slid slowly up his chest.

"Not at all," she whispered, gathering the lapels of his jacket in her shaky hands and pulling his face down to hers just as she had on the hammock that somnolent afternoon. "You have my full attention, Doctor."

Their eyes locked for just a moment longer.

"Are you sure, Donna?" All teasing was now gone from his voice.

The air around them was so charged she could almost hear the bees buzzing again as she brought her lips to his and showed him just how sure she was.

Donna spend a long time in her bathroom a little while later, waiting for the telltale snick of her door lock that would tell her he had entered her bedroom quietly, when no one else was looking, as had become their pattern. It took her awhile to remember they were alone and there would be no more need of locked doors and sneaking around.

She looked at herself in the mirror and chewed her bottom lip, feeling a pang of loss, but pushing it to the side, not yet willing or able to countenance the aching absence of the younger Doctor, or even the quietness of the ship without the friendship and warmth of their fellow travelers.

Her overriding concern tonight was the man she had apparently just began a relationship with, the same man now waiting to share her bed. This was so utterly strange; it was just the Doctor, same old lanky over-excitable Doctor. Her friend. And now even more than that. She shook her head. That wasn't even so new, if she was being honest with herself, she had thought of him as so much more than just a friend for months.

But now it was real, everything felt entirely different and Donna ducked her head, critically surveying her sensible cotton pyjamas and wondering for the umpteenth time in the last half an hour if she should change into something sexier. Even just her cotton nightie, it was long, nothing scandalous, but there was a reason she had stuck to two piece pyjamas since they had begun sleeping together, she kept imagining what would happen if her nightie rode up in the night and he saw more of her legs than he would want to, especially these days when their bodies could get so entangled as they slept – pyjama pants had just seemed the safer choice.

But now?

She shook herself, this was nuts. _Get it together, Donna, you aren't some shy teenager anymore. _Even if things happened between them whatever she wore for sleepwear would probably be discarded pretty quickly, and nothing was going to happen, the ball seemed forever ago, and maybe he had just been caught up in the moment and it didn't mean anything _and the kiss in the console room?_ and she was wearing nice underwear, just in case.

Just then she heard a soft knock at the door and she jumped a little, before rolling her eyes at herself and casting a wry frown at her reflection. What was wrong with her? She felt as jumpy as a cat.

When she emerged from the bathroom he was waiting for her in her bedroom, wearing his pjs but just standing in the middle of the room rather than already in the bed. She rubbed her hands over her arms nervously as he crossed the room, stopping within inches of where she stood.

She looked up at him and caught him looking down at her, his eyes dark and unreadable.

"You took a long time in there, is everything okay, Donna?"

"I'm not in the habit of sleeping with guys on the first date!" She half-smiled at him, letting him know she was only joking, but his eyes only crinkled in concern.

"I'm kidding, Doctor, we've been sleeping together for so long now, it's daft of me to suddenly get all weird about it."

"No, it's not daft at all," he said, understanding in his voice. "If you like, I could let you sleep alone tonight?" He stepped back a little.

Donna remembered what had happened the first time she had tried to sleep without him since the metacrisis and shuddered – they weren't even apart, they had merely moved in the night so that the contact between their bodies had been lost. The metacrisis had been resolved but as he had warned her, she was still at the mercy of the Time Lord consciousness expressing itself through her dreams.

But it had been more than that. The real source of the bone-chilling cold that seeped through her at the loss of his touch had more to do with being apart from him while her defenses were down, and if his frantic reaction had been anything to go by, he felt much the same way. It had felt like one of those awful dreams where you are falling and falling, feeling death awaiting at the bottom of some dreadful pit.

She had awoken with a start, her cheeks wet and her cries summoning him to her side in an instant. As his mind sought hers she felt the rampaging desperation tearing through him too.

Ever since then they had been more careful about holding each other all night long. She had even joked with him about tying their wrists together with the silk belt from her nightgown, and to her surprise he had merely waggled his eyebrows and smiled very slowly and deliberately and instead of embarrassing him, she had found her own face warming instead.

She swallowed, and forced her mind back to the present before she started to blush all over again. "No! No, Doctor, don't go, I thought you said you couldn't sleep alone anymore anyway?"

"I can't." He shrugged. "I can go one night without sleep though, Donna, I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Well, I _can't_ do without sleep, I'm knackered!"

She tried to make light of how strange this felt, to be alone with him in her room in the middle of the night, now that things had changed between them. The memory of his hands on her body on the dance floor was still fresh in her mind, despite all the intervening mad panic of escaping from bloodthirsty revolutionaries.

"…And I can't sleep without you either, so stay, Doctor, please?"

She held out her hand to him and he took it immediately, his eyes never leaving hers. She could tell he wasn't buying her light-hearted tone in the slightest.

"Donna, this doesn't have to be any different, we've had a very long day." He brought up his other hand to cup her cheek gently. "Let's just go to bed like we always do, alright? No pressure for anything else, not tonight."

She nodded gratefully, pushing down the tiniest smidge of disappointment. It was the sensible thing to do. He led her to the bed and pushed back the covers. She climbed in, still unable to shake the shyness she felt, and moved over, feeling self-conscious as he slid in beside her and reached out to dim the bedside lamp.

He stopped before extinguishing the light all together when she reached for his sleeve and drew him closer to her as she lay back on the pillows and they held each other's eyes.

"Doctor?"

He didn't answer, just watched her face, his eyes, so black now, moving to her lips and then back up again.

"Did last night really happen?"

In answer he touched his fingertips to her mouth and her skin and mind together tingled with his touch. When her lips parted slightly he slowly lowered his face to hers. His kiss was painstakingly careful and her thoughts spun away from her in delirium as his fingers walked feather-light across her hip to dip down to the curve of her tummy. He pulled back a little and searched her eyes and she smiled at him, still shy but feeling bold too as she caressed his chest through his pyjamas.

He leaned over and clicked off the light, then without missing a beat, his lips returned to hers and his hands returned to her waist to undo a single button on her pyjama top, delicately parting material until his hand found her skin. His touch on her stomach was reverent but still startling enough that she gasped soundlessly and he drew back his mouth from hers just enough for her to draw breath.

She sighed, entranced, as everywhere his hands moved left trails of goosebumps in their wake. Donna had never felt this sensitized before. She was too incoherent to even worry about whatever jumble of emotions and sensations he would find in her mind as their connection on that level sparked between them like fireflies finding each other in the dark.

She whimpered softly as he kissed her one more time, then gently withdrew his hand from her tummy and moved back into his more customary position, his body curving around hers protectively. She shivered as he lifted her hair back from her neck and she turned into him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Her eyes closed and she breathed him in, the familiar scent of him calming her overcharged nerve endings. His mind seduced hers down into sleep surprisingly quickly but part of her clung to consciousness, not wanting this night to end.

His hand came up to rub her back, soothing and strong. _We have time,_ he intimated as she finally let go, safe and at peace in his arms.


End file.
